<^^w''i^??^^v 



ilC'E/ 



VOICE FROM THE PEW. 



NO UNCERTAIN SOUND. 



WALTER SMITH ALLEN 



'^If these should hold their peace, 
The stones vjould irrunediately cry out:' 

They may not yet believe them true. 

V\/hen they have read this book all throuo-h ; 

gut time vjill prove each luord I say, 

Foj^ all vuill come to pass some day. 



BROOK LYX. N. Y. : 

PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 

1887. 



aMC. 



^^:fi 



Copyright, 1887, by Walter Smith Allen. 



13^ TC 00 . 



Electrotyped by Smith & McDougal, 82 Beekman St., N. Y. 



PREFACE, 



The author of this little work deems it due to the 
public, and also to himself, to set forth some of the 
reasons that ha^e induced him to issue this publi- 
cation. Making no claims to literary excellence or 
to those graces of style which are generally the at- 
tributes of those who seek to become public instruct- 
ors, he is at the outset only too sensible of the many 
defects of his work, and will feel fully satisfied if the 
critical, the learned, and the cultivated will peruse it 
with the conviction that the author is deeply im- 
pressed with the truth and importance of the views 
here expressed. And if he shall succeed in awaken- 
ing an interest in the minds of others upon a subject 
so important to their spiritual and temporal welfare, 
he will feel that his labor has not been in vain. 

Many kind and appreciative friends, whose taste 
and judgment in such matters admit of no question, 
have advised him to take this step; otherwise, he 
would not have ventured on an experiment where so 
many others have failed, or to challenge on his work 
adverse criticism by those who might consider that a 



2 PREFACE. 

man in so humble a position in life as bis could not 
possibly say anything on such a subject that would be 
at all likely to interest the iDublic. Thought in this 
age is progressive, and he who strikes out new ideas 
and presents a subject from a different point of view, 
may fairly claim attention without being amenable to 
the charge of egotism. 

He addresses himself with some confidence to those 
devout and earnest seekers after the truth who are 
willing to recognize and accept it, without regard to 
the source from whence it emanated, and who will 
judge it as an honest endeavor to make clear that 
which heretofore remained in doubt; and to establish 
as fundamental truth that w^hich has furnished only 
— to many minds — a subject for anxious speculation. 

To those who differ with him in the opinions which 
he has here expressed, or refuse to accept the con- 
clusions at which he has arrived, he has only to say 
that the matter treated of has been vvdth him the 
study of a lifetime, and the conclusions he has reached 
have strengthened his faith in the Christian creed and 
left him with a profound conviction of the truth of 
what he has here stated. 



PASTOR'S LETTER 



Ix compliance with tlie request of the author of 
this book, it gives me pleasure to state that he has 
been for many years a member of the Second Pres- 
byterian Church of Brooklyn, under my pastoral care. 
I have entire confidence in his Christian character, 
and in the consistency of his quiet and upright life 
with his profession of the name of Christ. He is an 
ardent lover and a diligent reader of the Bible. He 
is also an earnest advocate of the right of private 
judgment in the interpretation of Scripture. He 
calls no man master. This book embodies the re- 
sults of his study and experience. A hasty glance 
at its contents discovers some opinions which no one 
will suspect me of endorsing; such as the doctrine 
of conditional immortality, the annihilation of the 
wicked, and the singular notion that the negro race 
are descendants of the fallen angels. In regard to 
these and any other opinions which may be regarded 



4 PASTOR'S LETTER. 

as unorthodox, it is sufficient to observe that the 
cliurch to which the author belongs does not re- 
quire a theological examination as a condition of 
private membership. Tiie door of her communion 
is open to all who make a credible profession of per- 
sonal faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, and are willing 
quietly to submit to her instruction and discipline. 

Aside from its peculiar notions, the book contains 
mucli that belongs to the common faith of the Holy 
Church Universal. It insists upon the necessity of 
regeneration, repentance towards God^, faith in our 
Lord Jesus Christ, and a life of holy obedience. 
These precious truths, wdiether expressed in prose or 
rhyme, cannot fail to bring comfort and help to those 
who may be able to read this book in the same sj)irit 
in which it is written, ^^even those who by reason of 
use have their senses exercised to discern both good 
and evil.''' 

Henry J. Van Dyke, Sr. 

Brooklyn, February 19, 1887. 



INTRODUCTION 



Some time since it was my desire to publish this 
work^ but I hesitated, fearing that it might be re- 
garded as an intrusion upon the public attention. 
And when the new version of the Scriptures ap- 
peared, with the words "death," ^' hell,'' and ''grave" 
left in the original Greek and Hebrew (Hades and 
Sheol), I thought it then a fitting time for the publi- 
cation of my work ; yet, after much consideration, con- 
cluded to defer it. But since the question of future 
probation has become the talk of the day, and as this 
work is certainly an answer to this question, I may 
with propriety at this time oJffer my book for public 
consideration, believing that these thoughts will be a 
great help to those who are in doubt on this question. 

For me to attempt to explain the grounds on which 
I base my conclusions of the teachings of the Script- 
ures would swell this work into two or three large 
volumes, and would require much more time and 
labor than I can at present devote to it, and might 
also be tedious to the general reader. It is my in- 
tention, some time in the near future — if it shall 
please the Lord to spare my life and continue my 
present state of health — to hold meetings at least 
once a week, which, for the purpose of distinct desig- 
nation, I would call " The School of Christ''— v^-here 



6 IXTRODUCTIOX. 

others with me couhl sit at His feet and learn of 
Him whom to know aright is hfe eternal. 

I wish to say right here that I do not admit the 
terms everlading and forever to mean eternal My 
idea of the meaning of the word everlasting is that 
it is simply continuous to tlie termination. But eter- 
nal means ivitliont end. 

My highest ambition was, and still is, to become a 
public speaker. It has been my prayer from child- 
hood that God would give me the truth and the love 
of it ; that He would make my tongue as the pen of a 
ready writer, that my words might be like apples of 
gold in pictures of silver; and by my words I might 
win men to the trutli and to God. 

It is not my purpose to found a new sect, but to 
give greater liberty to the preachers by raising a sound 
sentiment in the churches, so that the members will 
call for an explanation of these assertions that I claim 
to be true. There is a subtle power in the churches 
that controls the preacher, and also the members — a 
power that will not allow the preacher to tell what is 
in his own heart or let the members hear what they 
most need. I hope the reader will find in these pages 
a simple and cogent presentation of the truths of 
Scripture, and the deductions therefrom as they have 
occurred to my mind after many years of devout study 
and earnest contemplation. I firmly believe that I 
have been guided in this undertaking by a power 
which I found myself unable to resist, and my con- 
science acquits me of any other motive than that of a 
sincere desire to propagate the truth and benefit my 
fellow-man. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Preface 1 

Pastor's Letter 3 

Introduction 5 

Remarks of the Author on His Early Experience 11 

Earliest Experience in Writing 26 

One Resource 26 

My First Attempt at Rhyming , 27 

Reasons for Writing 28 

In Early Days, When I Began 29 

Note to the Reader 30 

Invocation. 31 

What is Conversion ? 31 

Reply to Discouragers , 33 

Let Your Light So Shine 36 

Solomon's Riddle 36 

Question of Mortality 39 

The Bible 41 

Ok, Precious Bible 41 

Six Classes of Created Beings , 42 



8 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Glory of God 4G 

From the Creation of Man to the New Creation 

OF All Things 47 

What Shall I do with Jesus V 62 

What is Man, that Thou art Mindful of Him? ... 64 

How is it Now that Jesus Died ? 67 

Individual Responsibility 73 

The Question of Eternal Torment Answered 74 

That Day of the Lord 78 

The Day of the Lord 83 

Things to Come 85 

Blessed is He that Waiteth and Cometh to the 

1,335 Days 89 

Restitution 95 

The Temple Worship after the Restitution 97 

The Throne of David 99 

God's Throne 100 

The Witnesses 102 

To Declare His Righteousness 103 

Mortality 104 

Heavenly Food 105 

What is the State of Man After Death ? 106 

To the King Eternal, Immortal, and Invisible 108 

Lucifer's Soliloquy 113 

The Colored Races 116 

Satan Incarnated 117 

Three Songs of the Revelation 118 



CONTENTS. 9 

PAGE 

The Return of the Jews 120 

Abraham's Seed 128 

The Sons of God 129 

The Office of the Spirit 130 

Joel's Army 131 

Satan's Incarnation 132 

Spiritualism 133 

The Elect 134 

The Fullness of Christ 134 

Thoughts on the Signs of the Times 135 

The Dark Day 142 

The Hidden People 143 

Hehold, He Cometh 144 

The Day of Darkness 145 

God Does Not Give Knowledge Without Respon- 
sibility 146 

No Man Liyes to Himself 150 

God's Ways are Equal 152 

Christian Humility 154 

All Live to God 156 

God's Foreknowledge 157 

Whom, Not Having Seen, We Love 157 

How TO Test CharacteIi 158 

How TO Live 161 

The Cross Ws Bear. No. 1 161 

The Cross We Bear. No. 2 162 

I am Not Alone 162 



10 CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

The Comforts of Hope 163 

In That Night 164 

A Lesson from the Wild Allspice 164 

The Hour of Prayer 165 

A Letter to a Friend. No. 1 166 

Reflections on Remarks Made to Me at the Door 

OF A Church 167 

Ye Are the Salt of the Earth 168 

A Letter to a Friend. No. 2 168 

My Last Request 169 



A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Remarks of the Author on his Early Experience. 

A FEW days since, in conversation with a gentle- 
man to whom I w^as presenting my yiev/ of the state 
of the times, and, being in rather a happy frame of 
mind, I enlarged upon the subject, and it seemed to 
strike him as a very cogent and clear statement of the 
case, according to the premises which I had assumed, 
and he remarked, "You are the most self-assured 
man I ever got in conversation with,*' I replied that 
if he would drop the w^ord self I would acknowledge 
the position. He asked me, " What is the differ- 
ence ?" I said to him : 

"If I should ask you for the time of the day, you 
would probably take out your watch, look at it, and 
say, ^I am five minutes of nine/ This reply you 
w^ould, perhaps, make without any qualification what- 
ever, thus showing absolute confidence in the correct- 
ness of your time-piece. You believe your v/atch, and 
you are assured that your watch is right. You would 
not say, ^ My w^atch is five minutes of nine," for it 
would be thought that you did not trust your watch. 
Neither would you say, ^It is five minutes to nine.^ 
Now, if you should say, "'It is five minutes to nine,' I 
would ask you, ^By what authority do you tell me 
this?^ You say your watch. I say, ^How do you 



12 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

know that your watch is right ? * You say^ because you 
have had experience with your watch ; you know it 
to be a good time-keeper^ and never knew it to be 
wrong. You feel assured that it is right ; you are 
assured, but not self-assured. Your watch is the 
source of your assurance." 

In like manner, I look into the Scriptures and 
search thera daily to study them and become con- 
vinced that I am right because I believe them. And 
what I say of them seems to come from myself, be- 
cause I have not the slightest doubt of their truth 
and authenticity. Therefore, I had better reasons for 
the confirmation of my faith in the Scriptures than 
he had for belief in the accuracy of his watch. I told 
him that I had known Avatches (the best of them) to 
be wrong, but the Scriptures never. 

Jesus said: ''The words that I speak unto you are 
not mine, but the Father's that sent me.'' He was 
assured, but not self-assured, because the words were 
not His own, yet they were accepted by Him as if 
uttered by Himself alone. 

In a similar manner, when I was about eleven years 
of age, thoughts would come into my mind and give 
me the impression that I w^as in conversation with 
somebody that loved me and had my interest at heart; 
and when I was alone this occurred so frequently that 
it grew into a habit. 

It was my greatest pleasure to get away from all 
associations and enjoy to the full those pleasing 
thoughts that seemed to come unbidden. This 
thought, in particular, was constantly present — the 



REMARKS OF THE AUTHOR. 13 

folly of selfishness, which, up to this time, was the 
rule of my genenil conduct. 

A greedy and gras|)ing disposition had complete 
control of me. Then I could see myself in a light so 
despicable that I hated myself. This being the case, 
I resolved to use every endeavor to reach the ideal 
that I had formed for myself as to what a true man 
ought to be; and whatever happened to me, I made 
up my mind to submit without a murmur, and bear 
with patience anything that might befall me. 

About this time I began to realize that there vras a 
Providence in all things, and that no tiling transpired 
without the permission of the Almighty. I felt per- 
fectly safe, and, come what may, I w^ould regard all 
as for the best ; I would govern my conduct, as far as 
possible, in obedience to the voice w^hich, it seemed to 
me, I was constantly hearing, telling me not to be- 
lieve anything because others believed it, but to in- 
vestigate and judge for myself ; and if I found any- 
thing that was unreasonable, it could not be true, 
because all things that are reasonable may be true. 
So I determined to take nothing for granted. If I 
met with anything that I did not understand, I would 
wait my time. 

I was vrilling to give a reason for my conduct in 
any case, and was equally exacting in requiring a 
reason from others. In this way I frequently dis- 
covered the motives of others, and was not at all 
backward in telling them so, which caused me much 
trouble. 

When I was fifteen years of age I worked on a farm 



14 A VOICE FEOM THE PEW. 

about four miles from home, where I remained up- 
ward of four years. One summer day^ after dinner, 
Avliile seated on the steps of the granary, in the shade, 
waiting for the time to return to the field, my em- 
ployer's daughter, who was about my own age, came 
out and sat beside me. After talking with her a 
Avhile, she said : 

" We are to be catechised next Sunday." 

I said, ^^ What's that?'' 

She replied, '• Why, to answer questions in the 
catechism." 

I asked her, '' What is a catechism ? " 

She answered, '^ A Sunday-school question book." 

^^Oh, now I know w^hat that is! Have you got 
one?" 

She answered yes. Then, in answer to my request, 
slie brought it out at once, and we commenced to read 
it. All went very well until we came to the question, 
"Are the wricked to be punished eternally ?" the an- 
swer to which is : '' The wicked shall be cast into 
Hell, where the worm dieth not and the fire is not 
quenched." 

" M ," said I, " that is a contradiction ; because, 

if the worm does not die, it will eat them up ; and if 
the fire be not quenclied, it will burn them up." 

I quoted from Malachi, '• Behold, the day cometh 
that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud — yea, 
and all that do wickedly — shall be stubble ; and the 
day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord 
of Hosts; that it shall leave them neither root nor 
branch." 



REMARKS OF TIIP: AUTHOR. 15 

^^ Why, M /' said I, "there will be nothing left 

of them. The Bible says, ' The wicked shall become 
as though they had not been.'" 

At this she became greatly excited, and made no 
reply, but went into the house. 

That night, much to my surprise, I was called up 
from the cellar to family prayers. After my em- 
ployer had uttered a few sentences, it seemed good 
for me to be there. But in a moment, a great change 
took place in my feelings. He had raised his voice 
loud and clear, asking God to deliver them from 
damnable heresies and false doctrines; and he con- 
tinued in an excited manner for a long time. By this 
time it had become plain to me that this denunciation 
was intended for my especial benefit. He went on to 
give a list of doctrines that were particularly objec- 
tionable to himself, in the midst of which these words 
came to me, ^' If ye be persecuted for the truth's sake, 
happy are ye." 

The following Sunday, after having got the horses 
and wagon ready to go to church, my employer told 
me to wash my face and hands nicely, and comb my 
hair, as he wanted me to sit with the children in 
church. This w^as said in the kindest manner. When 
we got to the church, he went in and left me outside, 
as usual. I supposed that he had forgotten what he 
had told me; and, as was my custom, I spent part of 
the time with the horses and part of the time in the 
gallery of the church, where he found me. Then, 
with a very gracious smile on his face, he said : 

^^Come, I want you to sit with the children." 



16 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

I followed him down-stairs^, and up the aisle to the 
fourth pew from the front, in the furthest part of 
which I was placed^ which left me immediately in 
the centre of the church. 

Then the minister began to ask questions from the 
catechism, which were answered so well by the 
children, that I regretted I could not do the same. 
He then jooiiited his finger at me, and in a yery mild 
and sweet tone of voice, said : 

" Now, I want this little boy, with the brown coat, 
to answer this question." 

I was all attention, when he asked me : 

^•' Are the tuicked to he pimislied eternally V^ 

I made no reply. Then he said he would repeat 
the question. Kaising his voice very loud, he asked 
the same question. I hesitated a moment, when, in 
a sharp tone of voice, he said : 

" Come, come, speak up .^" and waited for my reply, 
which was: " I canH answer it, sirT 

Then he said, placing particular emphasis on each 
word : 

" Can^t you read ? " 

I answered, '^ Yes, sir J' 

''Is not the answer in the IjookV^ was the next 
question. 

I hesitated ; he still urged me to speak, with rising 
anger shown in every line of his face, and said again : 

" Come, come, speak up ! " 

Then I answered, at the top of my voice, "Ifs a 
con-tra-dic-tion, sir I " 

Then rising up on his toes, until it seemed to me 



IIEMARKS OF THE AUTHOR. 17 

that about two feet were added to his stature, and in 
a voice of thunder, exclaimed : 

''Did you come here to teach usV^ 

Just at that moment, I distinctly heard in my left 
ear the voice that I have spoken of so many times, 
yet it seemed to come from myself, saying very softly, 
"How much that sounds like the Pharisees,''^ I heard 
a commotion behind me, which was caused by my 
employer, who, white with rage, had risen to his 
feet, flourishing his crutch in the air, but he said 
nothing. 

The services concladed in a short time after this, 
and we went home. I expected to be taken to task, 
of course, for my conduct in the church ; but, to my 
surprise, the matter was not alluded to at all. I re- 
mained on this farm until the spring of the follow- 
ing year, 1843. It w^as my custom to visit my parents 
about once every three months. I w^as met by my 
father, who said to me : 

" Walter, they say the world is coming to an end 
this year.'^ 

I burst into tears, and said. '^Father, wouldn't that 
be good ! '^ 

He put his hand on my head, and began to cry. 
When he had regained his composure, he asked : 

"Would you like to come home again?'' 

I said, ^^Yes, father." He did not ask me why, 
but asked if I would stay then, and go for my clothes 
some other day. This was on Saturday night, and I 
said, " No, some other time ; and I want you to come 
for me.'' Then said he : 



18 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

^' You go early on Monday morning, and I will soon 
come after you.'' 

I requested him not to come till Tuesday^ because 
my shirt would be in the wash. After teUing him 
this, I left him to draw his own conclusions. 

When I arrived at the farm they were washing 
sheep ; and, as I had not seen it done before, the sight 
amused me so much that I got excited, and jumped in 
the brook. Not having any shoes to w^ear, I bruised 
my heel so badly that it became very painful, and I 
feared that my return home on the day I had ap- 
pointed would be impossible. But on the following 
Tuesday I heard somebody calling across the field to 
me to come along. Knowing that my father was 
coming, and expecting him every moment, I turned 
my steps toward the house, where I shortly after met 
him. He said to me that as soon as they could get 
my clothes ready we would go home. 

"Father,'^ said I, "there is not much to get ready." 

At this moment one of the colored help employed 
on the farm brought out my other shirt, unironed, 
and while wrapping it up in a piece of newspaper, my 
father remarked : 

" Put it in with the rest, and don't be particular/^ 

This joke can be appreciated when I state that 
there was nothing else to go in. At this my father, 
with visible disappointment in his look and tone, said: 

" Come along ! " 

During our walk home, a distance of four miles, he 
questioned me very thoroughly as to the treatm.ent I 
had received from these people. I told him many 



REMARKS OF THE ACTHOR. 19 

things which I do not think it would be kind to state 
here. 

The following Sunday, it being a beautiful spring 
morning, my father asked me if I w^ould like to go to 
meeting with him. At this time I was working on a 
farm by the week, and Sunday was the only day that 
I could be at home. I said I would be delighted to 
go with him. 

We started for a house about four miles from home, 
situated under the Palisades, opposite Spuyten Duy\ el 
Creek, where the meeting was to be held. I felt a 
great interest in the proceedings, and after supper, 
which we ate at the house, we got into a large fisl:i- 
ing-boat with about ten other persons, and started 
for Spuyten Duyvel, where another meeting was to be 
held. After pulling from the shore they began to 
sing, keeping time with the stroke of the oars, which 
so delighted me that it seemed like heayen below. We 
soon arrived at the house, and when the meeting was 
drawing to a close, the leader asked those who desired 
to Ije prayed for to rise up. Quite a number did so. 

I kept my seat. Then he asked that any persons 
who wanted to become Christians, some day, to rise 
up. Then I sprang to my feet. The meeting was 
soon closed, and we started for home. 

My father, seeing that I was in a thoughtful mood, 
and not wishing to disturb my reflections, said 
nothing to me. 

I will state here, that after leaving the boat, my 
heel pained me so much that I could hardly walk ; 
but the folks began to sing again, keeping time with 



20 A VOICE FROM THE FEW. 

their steps, and I soon forgot my pain. We had to 
climb over a large raft before we arrived at the house, 
and I did not notice my trouble until v/e had re- 
crossed the river, and gone to bed. I slept but a 
little while, wdien I awoke in great pain ; and as my 
father could get no light because we had no tinder- 
box, that night w\as to me one never to be forgotten. 
But, about daylight, I got relief, and had a good 
sleep. After breakfast, my father told me to go home 
alone, the way we came, that he had some business up 
the river, and to tall my mother that he would be at 
home in the afternoon. I saw them get into a sail- 
boat and push oti ; then I went on my journey. 

When half-way up the Palisades, I turned and saw 
the boat sailing along with a fair wind. I wished 
that I could have gone wdth my father, but, as wish- 
ing was of no avail, I started again, and on nearing a 
grassy slope near the top, looked up, and saw^ the f)ath 
winding beside a great high bluff that seemed as if it 
Avould fall on me. I thought, hero I am afraid of the 
rocks, I ought to be afraid of God, as well. I stopped. 
A thought came to me, and something said, '^'Do you 
fear God ? ^' "I certainly do, for I am a poor miser- 
able sinner.'' Then these words came to me: " How 
can God be just, and justify him who only believes?" 
Said I, ^^ He that believeth shall not be condemned 
when he is judged.'' Said I, again, '^Lord, my past 
record is a bad one." The voice said, ^^ Blotting out 
the sins which are past." Then said I, "For the 
future, I must keep the law, of courGe." It said, 
'* Jesus Christ is the end of the law for righteousness 



REMARKS OF THE AUTHOR. 21 

to every one that believeth ; for if righteousness was 
by your keeping of the law, tlien Christ died in vain." 
Again, the voice said : " Do you believe this ? " I 
said, " Lord, I believe/' " Well, what are you going 
to do about it ? '' the voice persisted. I eaid, " I ac- 
cept the position,'' and started for home. I began to 
shout, then to sing, and it seemed to me but a 
moment before I found myself at the gate of my 
home, where I met my mother. She asked me where 
I had been, and I said, ^^ Mother, Jesus Glirid is the 
end of the law for righteousness to every one that Ic- 
lievetli.'^ She again asked me w^here my father was, 
and I answered, "If righteousness rvere hy tlie la^v^ 
then Christ died in vainJ^ She saw my happy face, 
and took me in her arms, saying : 

^'My dear boy, God has met you on the way." 

After telling her where father had gone, I went to 
my work at the farm. 

While I have to confess that my life has been that 
of the crooked serpent, I have the hope of that man 
to whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity, in whose 
spirit there is no guile, and whose hope is as an anchor. 

I had been at home but a few days, when boils ap- 
peared all over my body, and a large carbuncle on my 
knee. My father came to me, and, addressing me by 
name, said that he believed every word I had told him 
about those people. 

I had been on this place for three years, and give, 
among many hair-breadth escapes that I had, the 
following as the most remarkable. Just after dinner, 
one day, I went into the barn by the small door. 



22 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

which I closed after me, and noticed that the barn 
was very dark. Being somewhat of a coward under 
such circumstances, I determined to cure myself of 
that fault. I had helped to pack the hay in the loft, 
and, thinking that it was darker there than it Avas be- 
low, concluded to go up in the mow. I Avent to the 
box-stall on the north-west corner of the barn, climbed 
up by the weather-boards, which was no easy task, 
the liay being so tiglitly packed. When I reached the 
top, I found that it was much lighter there than it 
was below, — the light coming from the pigeon-holes 
at the south side. That being on a level with the 
hay, the light gave a strange and ghastly appearance. 
The effect produced on me was such that I hardly 
dared to move ; but, taking courage at last, I crawled 
on my hands and knees to where I could stand up- 
right. At this time the thought occurred to me that 
I must use caution, and look out for the mow-hole, 
that being the point of danger. On reaching the east 
side of the hole, I found a hen there, and thought it 
would be fun to drive her down, wondering at tliC 
same time how in the world the fowl ever got there. 
She needed no driving, however, but flew past me, 
and went down through the hole. I turned to see her 
go down — lost my balance, and fell through the hole 
head foremost, saying to myself, "Good-bye, world." 
Feeling my head buried in what I supposed to be the 
hay on the opposite side of the hole, and noticing that 
my feet were swinging downward, I seized the hay 
with both hands, and landed on the floor in an up- 
right position, entirely unharmed. 



REMARKS OF THE AUTHOR. 23 

Oil taking a view of the situation, I found myself 
standing near the horses in the south-west corner of 
the barn, and both hands filled with rye-straw that 
was stored in the loft over the horses. As there 
was no straw packed in the mow, this surprised me 
very much. Still holding the straw in my hands, I 
walked to the middle of the barn and looked up, but 
there was no straw there. This circumstance I con- 
sidered very strange ; but my astonishment was much 
increased when I reflected on the distance I had 
fallen, it being at least tliirty-five feet from the floor, 
and seventeen feet in a horizontal line from the mow- 
hole. Fearing that my employer would think I had 
been up to some mischief if I scattered the straw on 
the floor of the barn, I continued to hold it in my 
hands. I then walked back to the place where I fell, 
in front of the horses, and seemed to hear a voice say- 
ing : " He will give His angels charge of thee, that 
they may bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash 
thy foot against a stone."' When I attempted to drop 
the straw I found my fingers so much cramped that I 
had great difficulty in opening them. During this 
time my thoughts dwelt on the nature of the accident, 
and I realized in its full force the presence of God, 
believing, at the same time, that to the interposition 
of Divine power alone was due this miraculous pres- 
ervation from death. I experienced a sense of grati- 
tude such as I had never felt before, and my feelings 
overflowed in tears and thankfulness to the Lord for 
my escape. 

That same afternoon I was called in to eat supper 



24 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

with the famil}^ This was not customary, as I gener- 
ally had to wait until the family had finished their 
meal. I wondered what was the cause of their alter- 
ing the rule. Perhaps they had seen me fall, or per- 
haps I was to be sent somewliere in haste, as such 
things had happened before. So, with my head bent 
down, I modestly entered the room and sat down at 

the table. Mr. F , my employer, after asking a 

blessing and giving thanks, said to his wife in Low- 
Dutch (a language I could understand) : 

^^Mr. , my neighbor's boy was killed to-day." 

" How was that ? " she asked. 

He answered, ''He fell through the hay-mow to 
the floor of the barn, and died instantly." 

He then commenced to talk to me about it, warn- 
ing me, at the same time, to keep out of danger. It 
occurred to mo that it would not be prudent to tell at 
that time of my fall, because I had frequently been 
accused of untruthfulness, and therefore my story 
would not be believed. So I resolved not to say any- 
thing about it. 

A few years since I had the pleasure of telhng his 
two daughters of the circumstance and giving the 
reason why I did not mention it at the time the acci- 
dent happened. They then told me that one of the 
reasons why I had so often been charged with not 
speaking the truth was, that when I heard a story, I 
always had one to tell just like it, and they expected 
to hear it related with such additional circum. stances 
as would render it more startling or interesting. 

It is about ten years since I became aware that a 



REMARKS OF THE AUTHOR. 25 

seminary was Dot a school for young ladies, bat where 
the Greek, Latin, and Hebrew languages were taught. 
On learning that it was a school where they taught 
the Science of Salvatic7i, my astonishment was so 
great that I wrote a long letter to a friend expressing 
my abhorrence. I thought and fully believed that all 
Christians are taught of God, and needed not that any 
man should teach them. 

Others might be a great helj) to us in times of sore 
trial, but to teach of God as a system was, to my mind, 
interfering with the office of the spirit of truth, whose 
peculiar province is to lead us into all truth conven- 
ient for us. 

I would like to state here that I attended the Bap- 
tist Sunday-school from my earliest years — my parents 
being of that faith — and continued in it until I had 
reached my eleventh year. 

At that time I left homo to v/ork on a farm, and 
have had no schooling of any consequence since, 
neither on weak days nor Sundays. I believed, as I 
had always been taught, that eternal torment w^as to 
be the inevitable fate of the damned; and it was not 
until I saw the ^^ Shorter Catechism of the Dutch 
Eeformed Church '' that my eyes were opened to the 
glaring inconsistencies which it taught. It appeared 
to me that it was in direct conflict with everything 
that was right, just, and reasonable. Not only that, 
but the terms used in the book were a positive con- 
tradiction. 

If a person should ask me when I was converted, 
my answer v/ould be, I do not knov/. But this one 



26 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

thing I do know, that whereas I was once blind, now 
I see. '^The wind bloweth where it listeth, and ye 
hear the sound thereof, but canst not tell from whence 
it Cometh or wliither it goeth. So is every one that is 
born of the spirit/^ 

Earliest Experience in Writing. 
When" iirst I did begin to write 
These thoughts, wliich are my great dehght, 
I found the Avritings much confused, 
For to this work I was not used. 
But when I sought the Lord for strength, 
This rhyming power did come at length ; 
And the first day tliat I began 
This way to teach my fellow-man, 
Each line I Avrote seemed clear as day. 
For in this manner I could say 
Each sentence clear, and thus divide 
The word ; then could not, though I tried. 

One Resource. 

There's many a flower that lacks perfume. 
Though not deprived of beauty, 

Whose work it is to fill up room. 
While others do that duty. 

So God in wisdom has devised 

A plan for every thinker; 
If one of schooling is deprived^ 

He can at rhyming tinker. 



MY FIRST ATTEMPT AT RHYMIK^G. 27 



My First Attempt at Rhyming. 

The following verses, being my first attempt at 
rhyming, were written about twenty years ago. They 
were composed without any thouglit at that time of 
continuing the practice, and the matter was dismissed 
until about four years since, w^hen I was recHning on 
a sofa one Sunday afternoon for the purpose of taking 
a short sleep. But sleep refused to visit my eyehds — 
my thoughts came thick and fast ; and, what seemed 
to me rather strange, they began to shape themselves 
into rhymes — nothing but rhymes. I made many 
efforts to change this current, but all was in vain ; 
the rhymes w^ould intrude themselves. I became 
alarmed, and thought I w-as losing my reason; but, 
after considering the matter for a few moments, I 
thought it best to work off this fit of rhyming feyer. 
So I seized a pen, and before I was aw^are of it, greatly 
to my surprise, I found that in little less than an hour 
I had written ninety-two lines of verse. 

I long for joy that me awaits. 
Reserved within the pearly gates. 
Where Jesus sits upon the throne. 
The bride and bridegroom's happy home. 

There joys celestial never fail ; 
When shall I come within that vail, 
" That I may see, and hear, and know. 
All I've desired, or wished below ? " 



28 A YOICE FROM THE PEW. 

My time seems here so long to wait, 
To stay, or go, I^m in a strait ; 
For better there to be with Thee, 
But as " Thou wilt," my stay must be. 

Oh, come ! and tarry not so hmg, 

I am impatient for the song — 

That lovely song ! — the saints will sing 

When they shall crown their Saviour king. 

Reasons for Writing. 

The reason why I undertook 

To write these lines within a book. 

Is that the people all may learn 

God^s purposes concerning man. 

They may not now believe them true. 

When they have read this book all through ; 

But time will prove each word I say, 

For all will come to pass some day. 

For, if the preachers in these times 

Had taught the truths I w-rite in rhymes^ 

My book w^ould then be of no use, 

And I w^ould be Avithout excuse 

For writing wdiat I now have done. 

Or publishing what I begun. 

And, as they teach them but in part, 

I add of those within my heart. 

The stone the builders did reject. 

To care for which they did neglect. 

Is proved at last to be the one 

That does become chief corner-stone. 



IX EARLY DAYS, WHEN I BEGAN. 29 

So with this book you yet may find 
The greatest treasures of the mind ; 
For when these things begin to come, 
You will be glad that you read them. 
For Jesus said, long in the past, 
That many of the first are last. 
So may these truths all come to mind 
When other books are left behind. 



In Early Days, When I Began. 

I:^ early days, when I began 
To learn the ways of God to man, 
They all seemed dark and undefined; 
I scarce could keep them in my mind. 
But as I searched, and years did pass, 
I then could see as in a glass ; 
Though darkened slightly by the way. 
The truth was taught me in that day. 
But in these latter days I see 
That all my life is like a tree ; 
At first the trunk and roots are found, 
And they are mostly underground. 
Then let the sun shine e'er so bright. 
They scarce can feel or see the light. 
But soon it doth put forth its leaves. 
And then is numbered with the trees, 
Whose branches, with the sound of flute, 
Give promise of both flower and fruit. 
And when the blossoms came along, 
They pleased me as with heavenly song. 



30 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

My. heart with rapture was well filled^ 
Like a good tree with fruit, well tilled. 
But when the fruit did show its form. 
My reasr^n reeled like tree in storm. 
But now the fruit is fully ripe, 
And I can write with great delight, 
With joyful heart and peaceful mind, 
And in these truths great comfort find. 

Note to the Reader. 

I HAVE not given chapter and verse, for any person 
can, by taking the most prominent words of a sen- 
tence, with a good concordance, see for himself that 
the Scriptures give me full authority for my asser- 
tions, and that I have used Bible words as far as pos- 
sible. It is not so important that all Christians 
should understand all truth. If they have the spirit 
of truth, tliey may rejoice. The great purpose of God 
in giving us the Bible is, first, to teach us our duties 
and show us the way of eternal life ; to prove God 
foresaw all things, and as Jesus said to His disciples, 
^^ Behold, I tell you these things, that when they come 
to pass you may knoiv that I told you of them ; again, 
other things I might tell you, but you cannot bear 
them now. Howbeit, when the spirit of truth shall 
come, He will lead you into all truth convenient for 
you.'^ A word to the wise is sufficient. The Word 
of God is true and righteous altogether. A true be- 
liever needs but to read a statement to accept or be- 
lieve it. But as we are to prove all things, I take the 



WHAT IS COXVEKSIOX ? 31 

Bible rule, that out the mouth of two or three wit- 
nesses every word shall be established. So I use no 
more than is needful to prove any assertion they 
make. A good mathematician is satisfied with his 
result when he has added up a column of figures, but 
in order to prove its correctness to the minds of 
others, he takes witnesses from the same source. 
The Bible never contradicts itself. In my studies I 
have never yet found a contradiction. If it did, then 
we have no foundation lor our faith or belief. 

Invocation. 

*' A man can receive nothing except it be given him from 
Heaven." 

Come, heavenly muse, my pen inspire, 
And make these words like tongues of fire. 
That they who read, their hearts may burn, 
And from their sins to thee may turn. 
Come, make my song like heavenly lays. 
That man may learn and choose thy ways. 
And shun the path that leads to death, 
To serve the Lord while they have breath. 

"What hast thou that thou hast not received V^ 



What is Conversion ? 

It is to be made a ylqw creature. The natural man 
is slain by the law, and then he is quickened into life 
by the spirit of God ; is given life eternal, and can- 



32 A VOICE FROM TEE PEW. 

not die, unless God should take his spirit from him. 
A man can grieve the Holy Spirit by blasphemy. 
The Apostle Paul declares that ^'the Lord knoweth 
them that are His/' 

There is a spirit of man and a spirit of beasts, and 
God is a spirit. The body is but a portion of matter 
that He lias power over. The head is not the man, 
but the man's head; and so with every member of 
his body. It is the same with all animate life. The 
body of Jesus was both human and divine; both 
earthly and heavenly. God was His father ; yet He 
was born of woman, and the woman was the man, for 
God says: ^'Male and female made He them." His 
body was a glorified body ; as Jesus says : " Thou hast 
glorified it, and will glorify it again." He was a man, 
that He might suffer and fulfill the law for sinners. 
He was God, and possessed all the attributes of God, 
that He m.ight so make God manifest to us that we 
could know God and seek to be like Him. Jesus was 
not man only, but God also — both body and spirit. 
His flesh saw^ no corruption, because He was a holy 
being. God dwelt in Him, so that the body is not 
the man, but the man in the body. The man that 
is born of woman is of few days and full of trouble ; 
but the man that is born of God hath eternal 
life and is fall of joy and peace. All life comes 
from God ; there is a natural life and there is a 
heavenly life. Conversion is an exchange of life — 
the earthly for a heavenly ; and if we understand 
heavenly things, we must have been born again. 
That is conversion. 



REPLY TO DISCOURAGERS. 33 

Reply to Discouragers. 

I DO not intend to divulge the names of those who 
have asked me the following questions, which I now 
answer : 

" Why do you write your thoughts in verse?" 
'' To make them easy to rehearse ; 

And in this manner to condense 

My thoughts of truth to common sense.'^ 
'' Why put your words so far apart ?" 
" That you may learn them all by heart, 

And make each sentence so complete 

It will be pleasure to repeat." 
'' Why write yon lines in doggerel? 

Won't better language do as well ? " 
^' If I can thus be understood, 

I need not do so if I could," 
'' I think the people will not read 

Your lines ; and so you cannot lead 

The people's mind to think as you, 

Because they don't believe it true. 

Were you to write more like a scholar, 

Then they would read and they would follow." 
'^ Ah, friend, this is a poor excuse, 

For better writings get abuse; 

And if the people knew their need, 

They soon on all these truths would feed." 
" Why do you write these verses down ? 

Why not just speak them with your tongue ?" 
" But these may speak, when I am gone, 

To people that are yet unborn. 



34 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

How can I get a man to wait 

AVhile I these wondrous truths relate, — 

When very few men have the time 

Or to this subject do incline ? 

Now in this manner I can give 

A very fair opinion of 

The things to me God has revealed, 

As I for truth to God appealed." 
" If you can write, then why not preach ? 

Then, if you go beyond your reach, 

You then can easy change your mind ; 

For now you cannot, if inclined.'*' 
'' Ah, friend, this is eternal truth — 

I have not changed since early youth. 

And change I cannot if I would. 

For what I teach is God's own word. 

So, now, no matter who assail, 

God's holy Word can never fail ; 

For all must be fulfilled some day, 

Though heaven and earth should pass away." 

Perhaps I shall some future day 
Attempt again some more to say ; 
As there arc many things to mention 
On this great theme of man's redemption. 
For many things the storehouse holds. 
Of that which is both new and old ; 
Let this suffice, that I attempted. 
And, thanks to freedom, not prevented. 
Now, if you do not think it true 
What I am trying to teach you, 



QUOTATION FROM SCRIPTURE. 35 

Just search the Scriptures with the light, 

And you will find tliat I am right. 

And if you, like the Bereans, do 

Search the w^ord, to find it true, 

You not only these will find, 

But many more will come to mind. 

God bless your efforts if you do 

Thus undertake to prove them true; 

Then you and I, in world to come, 

May hear Him say to us, " Well done.'" 

N"ow do I k)wio these things are true, 

Of all I say that God will do. 

And am I sure they'll come to pass. 

Or may they be disproved at last ? 

Yes, friends, I do beheve them true. 

And so, between myself and you, 

Let this suffice, that I believed 

That I these truths from God received. 

If my readers should find a line, or part of a line, 
that is not original, it is owing to the fact that I^ 
could not find any other way to make my statements 
hitelligible. 

I claim to be the author of thi« work, and I have 
not borrowed from any source whatever. I have for 
a long time considered the propriety of inserting the 
following quotation : 

Woe unto you, lawyers ! for ye have taken away the key of 
knowledge : ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were 
entering in ye hindered. — Luke, xi. 52, 



36 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Let Your Light So Shine. 

There is no truth belongs to man 

But he must give away, 
And always do the best he can 

To teach, that others may. 

For Jesus said, Let your light shine, 

Which I vouchsafe to you ; 
Not for your glory, but for mine, 

Teach many, not the few. 

For wliere I teach the heavenly truth 

I also do command ; 
Though you may not in your youth. 

In later days you can. 

For if you can't in learned words 

Explain the truth I give. 
You can in rhymes, as shar{)ened sw^ords^ 

Let others truth receive. 

For thought of wisdom is the gift 
That God supplies to them 

Who seek for self, and others lift 
From weak to wiser men. 

Solomon's Riddle. 

That coat of mine I have put off; 

How can I put it on ? 
This riddle Solomon got off 

For men to think upon. 



SOLOMON'S RIDDLE. 37 

This riddle I will now explain, 

And show you what it means. 
Though it may give you little pain 

As light here on it gleams. 

It does refer to many men 

Who claiui to have the truth, 
And write it down with ink and pen, 

That they may teach the youth. 

They started, first, to think themselves 

That God the truth did give ; 
But changed their minds for books on shelves 

That did their minds deceive. 



If we were mindful of the place 
From whence we now have come. 

We could return without disgrace. 
But now excuse we've none. 

Therefore, we will these truths endorse, 
And search for more besides ; 

Accepting each with all its force, 
And trample on our pride. 

For what avails if w^e don't have 
The friendship of this world ? 

They cannot help beyond the graye, 
Though they may hard have toiled. 



38 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

And what to us if we should lose 

The friendliness of men, 
Or have the world us all abuse. 

If we but heaven can gain? 

For woe to them that now do say, 
That if we then had lived 

In olden times, the prophets' day. 
We would not have them grieved. 

Nor would we take the prophets' blood; 

As many others did ; 
But died ourselves, to give them food. 

And helped them to have hid. 

How many say if we had lived 
When Jesus walked the earth, 

We would not then have been deceived- 
But would have known His worth. 

We would have followed in the way, 
And learned His truths to love ; 

Nor would we then, like others, say 
He was not from above. 

But loved to sit at Jesus' feet, 
And learned His precious truth ; 

And loved His lessons to repeat, 
And teach them to the vouth. 



QUESTION OF MORTALITY. 39 

Now, when this little book you read, 

And may not understand, 
This timely warning then take heed, 

Lest Justice may demand 

That you be numbered with the class 

That Jesus did condemn ; 
And in the Judgment say, alas, 

I am of wicked men ! 



Question of Mortality. 

The question of the mortality of man, and that 
eternal life is obtained only through Jesus Christ, has 
been so thoroughly discussed in the publications of 
the Adventists, that there is left no room for doubt 
that the natural man is of the earth, earthy, and 
except a man be born again he cannot see the King- 
dom of Heaven. For the Kingdom of Heaven is right- 
eousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, w^hich 
the natural man cannot possess or understand until 
he is born of the Spirit and becomes a new creature. 
Yet I will here present a few thoughts for the con- 
sideration of the reader. " The soul that sinneth, it 
shall die;^' then comes the question: What is a 
soul? God made man of the dust of the ground, 
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and then 
man became a living soul — that is, the man breathed, 
and so became a live man. N^ow, God says that when 
man's breath goeth forth his thoughts perish. Again, 
God says : " For dust thou art, and to dust shalt thou 



40 A VOICE IROM THE PEW. 

return." And this would always be so, but for the 
promise of God that He would raise the dead. 

Elsewhere I refer to the Saints who are not dead, 
but have been quickened into spiritual life, and have 
the promise of Christ, that as He lives they shall 
live also. He tliat liath the Son hath life; and he 
that hath not the Son hath not life; that is, eternal 
life. That life is in His Son. Now, if any man be 
in Christ, he is a new creature : old things have 
passed away, and all things have become new. 

Paul says, "^I count my body dead, and the life 
that I now live in the flesh is not I, but Christ in 
me." The Saints are one in Christ Jesus ; He is their 
life, and as He said, " He that believeth in me shall 
never die." 

The words soul and self have the same meaning ; 
they are used interchangeably all through the Script- 
ures; not that a man has a soal, but is a soul. Man 
that is born of woman is of few days, and full of 
trouble; but he that is born of God hath life eternal, 
and is full of peace, joy, and hope. The natural man 
is of the earth, earthy ; but he that is born again is 
of the heavenly. 

I asked a Universalist on what grounds he placed 
his hope of universal salvation. He replied that 
there was in man a dread of total annihilation and a 
natural longing for immortality. I said, "How can a 
man hare the dread of that which he believes impos- 
sible, or long for that which he already possesses? 
Your premises are contradictory." 

Now, why should we seek immortality if self is 



oil, PRECIOUS BIBLE! 41 

immortal already? God removed mun from the tree 
of life, and tins tree is not brought to view until the 
new creation, after Christ has reigned a thousand 
years, and sin, death, and he that hath the power of 
death is destroyed. God gave us the love of life and 
the dread of death so as to place us in a position to 
receive eternal life with thankfulness. 

The Bible, 

The Bible is a book of truth, 
That I have studied from my youth. 
The more I search the more I find 
The greatest treasures of the mind. 
Most wondrous things are here portrayed 
Of everything that God has made ; 
And secret things are brought to light 
By watching close to read it right. 

" What saith the Scriptures?"' is the word 
That Jesus asked of those that heard. 

" How readest thou ?" He asked again ; 
Because right reading makes it plain. 

Oh, Precious Bible! 

The Bible is a precious book, 
And cheers this soul of mine, 

For when I in its pages look 
It proves itself Divine. 

Its promises are all assured 

By Him who cannot lie; 
And Jesus all our pains endured 

To save us, though we die. 



43 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Its precepts do my lieart engage, 
And guide me in the way, 

From early youth to olden age^ 
When nature does decay. 

Those words of wisdom I admire, 
And love to do His will ; 

No more than this will He require 
Till deatli my heart makes still. 



Six Classes of Created Beings. 

I:n" searching the Scriptures I find six distinct 
classes of beings. Including God, there are seven. 
And seven is the perfect number, w^hich I will here 
endeavor to describe as briefly as possible : 

Oh, how should I speak of the angels of God, 
Who from their beginning were alw^ays so good! 
They delight to obey Him, nor need they the rod 
To do all of God^s bidding, whatever His word. 
They are holy and happy and free from all sin, 
And rejoice when a sinner has turned unto Him 
Who saves to the uttermost all that will come, 
And of those that believe He will reject none. 

Or the saints of all nations, and people, or tongue, 
That are born of the spirit, who, though many, are 

one. 
They for whom Christ died, He mighty to save 
From sorrow and sin, pain, death, and the grave. 



SIX CLASSES OF CREATED BEIXGS. 43 

Their numbers so great that no man can tell. 
Who passed through the great tribulation so \vell. 
These are the ones for whom Christ did atone, 
Who will share in His joys when He sits on His 
throne. 

Or the servants of God, twelve times twelve thou- 
sand, 

Who arose from their graves, and with Christ went 
to heaven. 

These dead men now live, for with Him they did 
rise, 

From the grave they arose and ascended the skies. 

They sing a new song that none other can sing, 

And worship the Lord, our Redeemer and King. 

They follow the Lamb wherever He may go, — 

Victorious now over every foe. 

Or God^s people — their number as sand of the sea- 
Fast bound in the grave that Christ will set free. 
Now all those that are living, be he Gentile or 

Jew, 
When compared with the dead, they are very few ; 
And the day is soon coming when they shall come 

forth 
From their graves, where they sleep, to dwell on the 

earth ; 
When the knowledge of God shall then be made 

known, 
That they may choose life and of spirit be born. 



44 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Or of the great numbers of Gentiles and Jews, 
Who hated their God, and His love did refuse. 
They shall die at His coming and stay in tlie grave. 
They refused all God's mercies — He mighty to save. 
They shall turn to dust, and in dust remain 
For one thousand years, and then rise again 
To receive their full share of God's justice at once, 
As their torments shall last for only five montlis. 
When they shall acknowledge, like the thief on the 

Cross, 
That they suffered justly, and that they were the 

cause 
Of all they received of God's justice and power; 
For the hail of His wrath on their heads He will 

shower. 
They desire to die, but death will not come ; 
Their pains are so great that they gnaw on their 
^ tongues ; 

They cease not to blaspheme and to hate the Most 

High, 
But God they must worship, and then they shall die. 

Or of that singular class, the spring of all evils. 
Those fallen from heaven, the Scriptures call devils. 
Whom God by His power has reserved for that day 
When all that is evil will then pass away. 

The qualities that I have attributed to the six 
classes above mentioned, in their relations to the 
Creator, may be compared to many of the productions 
in the natural world. Take, for example, several 



SIX CLASSES OF CREATED BEINGS. 45 

pieces of ore containing metals of different degrees 
of value, such as gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, and 
the dross which is of little or no value. The first 
process is to separate the metals from the ores. Now, 
in order to ascertain the value of tliese metals it is 
necessary that they should be assayed. So God, 
having created all beings by His almighty power, 
having endowed each with a free will, and has tested 
them in the crucible of experience in order to deter- 
mine their worth and relation to eacli other. The 
silver represents the angels, who reflect all that is beau- 
tiful and good in the universe. The gold represents 
the saints, beautiful in themselves ; they are as gold 
seven times tried in the fire. The copper represents 
the servants, beautiful as gold when polished, and 
used for the most useful and ornamental purposes. 
The iron represents the people, bright when used 
rightly, but when neglected corrodes and decays ; 
but by the power of the chemist can be brought back 
to its original condition. So with the natural man, 
though he die and turn to dust, God w^ill raise him 
up again. The lead represents the blasphemers; 
they are the dead weight of society, used for the 
most ignoble purposes and poisonous in themselves, 
defiling all that they touch. The dross represents the 
devils ; they are the spring of all evils. God's pur- 
pose in them is, that He might make manifest to all 
the good or evi! attributes of these several intelli- 
gences ; for w^ithout the trials to which they have been 
subjected, the good or evil principle in their natures 
would have never been kiiovv^n. 



46 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Glory of God. 

**Tlie glory of God sliall cover the earth as the waters fill 
the sea." 

God made all things for His own glory, and the 
glory of God consists in the manifestation of His 
attributes, which are Power, Wisdom, Goodness, 
Truth, Love, Justice, and Mercy; in these Ho 
delights. Many of our race have died in despair that 
they might appreciate the more His power, wisdom, 
goodness, truth, love, justice, and mercy, and worship 
God intelligently. 

For God says, '* I wnll bring down to the grave all 
those that forget God.^' And again, ^'I will bring 
them out of their graves, and I will put a new heart 
within them, and I will put a new spirit within them, 
and they shall knoiu that I am the Lord.'^ 

It is not to be expected that all the readers of this' 
work will agree with me in my views of the truths of 
Scripture, but I challenge a fair investigation, and I 
am certain that if they will search the Scriptures, as 
with a lighted candle, they will very soon find that 
my position is impregnable, and be forced to admit 
it without controversy. God says, ^^ Comfort ye, 
comfort ye, mjj people.'^' If this work does not find 
a lodgment in many hearts, that are broken in con- 
sequence of the sad remembrance of lost sons and 
daughters who have come to an untimely end in this 
present evil world, and who have died without the 
knowledge of the truth, without God, and Avithout 
hope, or even died in despair, I should then feel that 



FROM THE CREATION OF MAK. 47 

my labors were in vain. But I know that God has 
been my help in wanting what is herein taught; that 
it will accomplish the purpose for which it is pub- 
lished. My book can be likened to a case before the 
Grand Jury ; I have proved that I have a good case 
for trial, and am now before the public court ; so 
now, bring in your witnesses, for and against, and 
give an honest verdict. I hope to do so myself in a 
future volume, but to have done so in this work 
would perhaps have made it wearisome to the reader. 

From the Creation of Man to the New Creation 
of all Things. 
Wheis" God had made all earthly things — 
The beasts, the fish, and bird that sings — 
^Twas then He said, let us make man, 
And let him do the best he can ; 
And give him power o'er earthly things 
That we have made — e'en birds with wings — 
That he may rule them by his will, 
Our greatest purpose to fulfill. 
God planted there, just east of Eden, 
A lovely place — a sacred garden — 
Where everything that grew was good. 
To please the eye or eat as food. 
God with His works was then well pleased, 
And rested when they all had ceased. 
He came to earth in cool of day 
To hear what Adam had to say. 
He told him what he must not do. 
As they did wcilk the garden through ; 



48 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

And told him of the tempter's snare. 
And of his subtle tricks beware. 
God made man good, but free to fall, 
" Yet loved him, notwithstanding all." 
He knew the man was weak in nature, 
Althougli a man of the full stature ; 
But God did know the devil's strength, 
And that the man would yield at length ; 
For God did know full well the hour 
When Satan would exert his power. 
Now, God made man from dust of earth — 
He, unlike others, had no birth, 
But of full stature he did come — 
The greatest work that God had done. 
He placed the man in Eden's glade 
To care for things that He had made ; 
To keep the garden, eat the food. 
And there remain while he was good. 
He had dominion o'er all things — 
O'er beasts that walk and birds with wings. 
This happy place was his delight, 
And God was sometimes in his sight. 
He talked with God, and God w^ith him. 
For now the man was free from sin. 
He named all creatures, he so wise ; 
So well they're named we are surprised. 
So well he understood them all — 
How strange it seems that he should fall. 
Ah, this first man, like all the rest, 
Knew least of self, but others best. 



FROM THE CREATION OF MAX. 49 

He named his wife, but God named him, 

The first man, Adam, by whom came sin. 

God made the man so good and fair 

That he did now His image bear. 

The woman, no less fair than he, 

Was taken from his side, to be 

His helpmeet in those garden walks, 

To ])lease ench other in their talks. 

The woman was the weaker man — 

This was according to God's plan — 

That she, by yielding first to sin, 

Should all her life submit to him. 

God placed near them the tree of knowledge, 

They had no need of school or college. 

This tree gave power all things to ]cnoii% 

Of good and evil, here below. 

Yet they did eat what was forbidden 

Of this one tree that God had given ; 

For God would prove man's weakness here. 

That he might knoiD his God to fear. 

God let the tempter come to him — 

The subtle serpent, spring of sin — 

To try the man and prove him true. 

Or let him fall — himself undo. 

The tempter came, with subtle lies, 

And said, by eating they'd be wise. 

And they believed what he had spoken. 

For he did know their eyes would open. 

Now, when God sav/ what tliey had done. 

By yielding to the tempter's tongue. 



50 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

He asked the man of what he did, 
And why they in the bushes hid. 
He said because he was ashamed, 
And for the fault the woman blamed. 
He asked the woman what she'd done. 
She would not have the fault her own, 
But blamed the serpent, who beguiled 
Her willing self to be defiled. 
How is it, now, that God did spare 
These sinful ones, their guilt so clear? 
It is because He was a God 
Of mercy, gentleness, and love ; 
For ^twas by this one act of theirs 
That He can show them how He spares 
The guilty souls that fear His name, 
That they may learn to do the same. 

But now the man puts forth his hand 
And eats the fruit that I command 
Him not to eat, lest he should die, 
And with the dust again to lie. 
God came to see this sinful man, 
For what is done is but His plan 
To prove His mercy and make known 
His loving kindness, through His Son. 
They thought by eating they^d be wise. 
For they believed the deviTs lies. 
Now, wisdom is a gift from God, 
And knowledge is not the same word, 
For knowing is not to be wise, 
Though it appeared so to their eyes. 



FROM THE CKEATION^ OF MAN^. 51 

He ate the fruit that God forbid, 

And by this act himself undid ; 

For then he hneio that he was naked, 

This foolish act had made them wicked. 

They feared to meet their Maker now, 

And, trembling, hid themselves from view. 

Now God, as He had done before. 

Comes down to look the garden o'er. 

They now have hid them in the bushes 3 

Oh, could you see their crimson blushes, 

You well might know that they feared God, 

For now they tremble at His word. 

For God had said if they should eat 

Of this one tree in this retreat. 

The very day they ate thereof 

Their human life He would cut off. 

The day thou eatest thou shalt die. 

Though all creation to me cry, 

I carry out my one design. 

For all the universe is mine. 

If you should dare to disobey, 

And act the fool while Fm away. 

You cannot hide the fact from me — 

There's nothing done but I can see. 

God said, in eating thou shalt die. 

But thou shalt not, was Satan's cry. 

The devil was a liar then, 

As he is now, and always been 

The great deceiver of mankind. 

Whose work it is to make them blind. 



52 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

That he may lead them far from God, 

To love the evil, not the good. 

This sinful serpent God will use, 

And let it all mankind abuse, 

That they may know both good and evil, 

To love the Lord, and hate the devil. 

Now the dominion he has lost 
By this one sin — a fearful cost — 
From this fair garden they must go, 
And eat their bread with sweat and woe. 
The woman now submits to him. 
Because she was the first to sin. 
In sorrow now she must bring forth. 
And do her share to fill the earth. 
They, through God's mercy, did not die. 
As he had said, that very day, 
But spared their lives for many years 
To labor, trouble, and of tears. 
And sons and daughters they did have, 
But one came to an early grave ; 
For jealousy his brother filled. 
And he was by his brother killed. 
And from the earth his blood did cry. 
That God did hear, for He was nigh. 
He knew the crime, and criminal, Cain, 
For by his hand was Abel slain. 
Then God a mark did on him place. 
That all would know that saw his face ; 
And through the earth, w^herever found, 
A fugitive and vagabond. 



FROM THE CREATION OF MAX. 53 

God planted there the tree of life ; 

Had Adam eaten, or his wife, 

Their lives would be prolonged forever, 

And death on them could have no power. 

But of this tree they did not eat, 

For as they were, they were complete. 

They had no fear of death in them. 

For then they had no sense of shame. 

But when they'd eaten of the tree 

Which God forbade, or even see, 

He hastened then, with angel guard. 

To watch the tree with flaming sword ; 

For lest He should put forth His hand, 

God sends a cherubim to stand 

And guard the tree and all around. 

For here eternal life is found. 

If he should eat while in his sins, 

Eternal life in Mm 'begins. 

Now, that would be a wretched state. 

For mercy then would be too late ; 

As he is still but dust of ground, 

I now can let my grace abound ; 

Since sin is of this earthy nature, 

I'll prove my love for every creature. 

So God in mercy spared his life, 

To long enjoy his lovely wife ; 

They lived on earth for many years 

To labor, sorrow, grief, and tears. 

Now if God had not made a law. 
How could He justly use His power 



54 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

To punish man for guilt and sin, 
Or e'en require that they serve Him ? 
It's by the law, that sin is known, 
It is by sin, the law is shown. 
The law is holy, just and good ; 
We cannot keep it if we would, 
For God has proved our sinful nature. 
For Jesus died for every creature. 
He bore our sins upon the cross, 
That we through Him regain our loss ; 
And now, without a controversy, 
God made the law, to show His mercy ; 
For what is mercy but a power 
To overcome a broken law. 
And make the guilty free from sin 
By casting all their sins on Him 
Who bore our sins upon the tree. 
And by His sufferings make us free. 
With thankful hearts we can rejoice. 
In praising Him with tuneful voice 
Who saves our souls from death and sin. 
That we may ever live with Him. 
This mercy Christ will only give 
To those who do in Him beheve ; 
And they who will refuse His offer 
Must bear their sins, and justly suffer. 

Now, in the flesh a law I find 
That wars against the law of mind — 
It is the law of death and sin. 
Oh, what a state this brings me in! 



FROM THE CREATION OF MAN. 55 

Oh, wretched man that now I am ! 
For when I've done the best I can 
To keep God^s law and do His will, 
I find I am a sinner still. 
Now God has sent His only Son, 
In likeness of a sinful man. 
And He, though holy, was made sin 
For us, that we might be like Him. 
Now He was made like sinful flesh, 
And for sins, let the old man perish, 
For in the flesh, none can |)lease God, 
But in the spirit we are good. 
That is, if we are born again, 
And by the law, ourselyes were slain, 
We have the spirit God has given 
To those that are the heirs of Heaven. 
It's not of works, that man should boast — 
Though of all men we do the most ; 
It was for carnal sins He died. 
That we by Him are justified. 
For in the flesh dwells no good thing ; 
Man, by himself can nothing bring- 
To that perfection God requires, 
For all man's work, with him expires. 

God made the man, to have dominion 
O'er all the things that God has given ; 
That man should rule them by his will, 
And thus his Maker's word fulfill. 
But when the man had disobeyed. 
And ate the fruit that God forbade, 



56 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

He lost the power that God gave him, 
Because lie did commit a sin. 
Then Satan claimed to have the right 
To rule the world with all his might. 
For man had yielded to his power, 
And was in bondage from that hour; 
i And by his scheming did acquire 

The lost dominion, his chief desire. 

A second Adam, God did send, 

That by his power, man in the end 

Should get by Ilim, the lost dominion, 

To rule the earth, as done in heaven. 

This heavenly one the tempter met. 

When Satan tried Him by his net. 

In subtle words of deepest guile, 

This heavenly Being to defile. 

Because he knew, if he should fail 

In this great effort to prevail, 

Or fail to cause this Man to fall, 

This Man w^ould then be all in all. 

So when this Man, in forest shade, 

Through forty days, and nights had stayed, 

Keen hunger came, but food He'd none 

Till all these days, and nights had gone. 

Now Satan sought Him in this state. 

And thought he could control His fate. 

By tempting Christ to make stone bread. 

And be by Satan's wishes led. 

He tempted Him, yea, three times o^er, 

As he had done the man before, 



FROM THE CREATION OF MAN". 57 

When Eden's beauty he enjoyed. 
And by his subtle words destroyed; 
He failed to cause this Man to fall, 
And now this Man is all in all. 
If man would do the works of God, 
He must believe God's Holy Word ; 
Then he will find God's way to bless 
By making Christ, his righteousness. 
If we should say, we have no sin, 
We would make Him a liar then ; 
For in the world there are none good, 
As God has taught us in His Word ; 
But he who is led by God's spirit 
Is free from sin by Jesus' merit ; 
For he in spirit loves the law. 
But how to keep it — that is more 
Than human power, or will can do. 
God says we do not ; therefore true. 
Blest is the man whose sin is hid, 
Although he does what God forbid. 
He has the blessedness of him 
In whom God made all pure within. 
For by the law was Jesus slain 
For us ; or else He died in vain. 
He died for all, that they who live 
Eternal life through Him may have. 
He rose again to justify. 
That by the law, we should not die. 
And be with Him who once was slain, 
And come with Him in clouds again. 



58 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

When people whom He makes His care, 
Shall rise to meet Him in the air. 
Except a man be born again, 
And by the law himself be slain ; 
For, a new creature he must be, 
If he the things of Heaven would see. 
The earthly man minds earthly things; 
His heart, and flesh, to the earth clings ; 
Nor can he rise above the earth 
Till he has had a second birth. 
The natural man, is but a slave 
To labor, trouble, and the grave. 
The highest things that he may cherish. 
If he repents not, with him perish. 
Eepentance, is a gift from God 
To those who tremble at His Word. 
'^' In that great day they shall be Mine — 
As jewels in My crown shall shine.^^ 
The fitness for this heavenly dress 
It is the Lord, our righteousness ; 
For Jesus suffered for our sin, 
That we by faith might live in Him, 
And carry on the work begun 
In us, till He shall say, Well done. 
For God has taught us in His Word 
Of blessed dead, that in the Lord 
Have died to earth, but live in Him, 
Because He saved them from their sin. 
Sin is the cause of death to man. 
But God has made a wondrous plan. 



FROM THE CRExVTION OF MAX. 59 

To pardon sin, and yet be just, 
For those who now in Jesus trust. 
It's not for works that we have done, 
But that God gave His only Son, 
That by His merit, He might save 
Us from our sins, death, and the grave. 
He that believeth, shall not die, 
Though his body in the grave may lie. 
The spirit lives, and shall live on,- 
Though worms his body feed upon. 
The spirit is the inward man 
That makes the flesh do what it can ; 
But he that is not born again, 
Who failed to love a Saviour's name. 
Must sleep in dust beneath the sod, 
Till he shall hear the voice of God. 
Some will come forth to learn His ways, 
To live on earth, and^ing His praise; 
But others who reviled the Lord, 
And did reject His Holy Word, 
And did blaspheme against the Spirit, 
Remain in dust, and not inherit. 
Yea, sleep in dust a thousand years. 
And then awake to groans and tears. • 

Now, Christ it is that has the key 
Of death, and grave, to set them free ; 
For then His dead shall all come forth. 
To dwell again iipoii the earth. 
They shall grow np, as calves of stall. 
For they are ransomed from the fall, 
And that is all. 



60 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

For then the earth shall be at peace, 
For groans, and sighing then shall cease. 
Each one, then, shall love the other, 
As father, mother, sister, brother. 
Then from Mount Sion shall go forth 
The Word of God, to end of earth ; 
And all God's laws shall be taught them, 
From temple in Jerusalem. 
The earth shall rest a thousand years, 
And universal peace be theirs; 
The nations shall wage war no more, 
For all that caused it w^ill be o'er. 

Now Christ the Lord must reign, till all the work is 

done. 
And He will finish up all that He has begun ; 
For Jesus shall see of the travail of his soul, 
And shall be satisfied when he shall reach the goal. 
For all opposing powers will then become put down, 
And all created objects will be conquered by His 

crown. 
He'll yield the kingdom then into the Fathers hands, 
For every one has now complied with His commands. 

Then our God will make new heavens and new earth, 
And they shall far excel all things of present worth ; 
The past, forgotten then, and never come to mind, 
And in that perfect state eternal life we find. 
For then will come to man the tree of life again, 
Because the sting of death in him is surely slain. 



FROM THE CREATION OF MAX. 61 

For God, He was too wise the tree of life to give 

To man, with blinded eyes, lest he should eat and 

live ; 
Until, all possibility of people's doing wrong 
The Lord has changed forever, and made His creat- 
ures strong. 
For now we all can eat, and on the Lord rely, 
And in this perfect state, we need not fear to die. 

We seek a house not made with hands. 

One far beyond this sphere. 
Where perfect souls, and angel bands 

With Christ, the Lord, appear. 

One far removed from mortal view. 

That Jesus has prepared 
For those whose spirits are made new, 

Whom God in mercy spared. 

Thus we have passed from death to life, 

And have been born again ; 
We are the bride, the dear Lamb's wife, 
'Who for our sins was slain. 

The whole creation groans to see 
That happy future yet to be^ 
When God shall all His word fulfill. 
And all creation do His will. 
The sons of God will then be known. 
For they will sit on David's throne ; 



62 A VOICE FROM TRE PLW. 

To rcigii with Christ a thousand years, 
When truth, and love shall banish fears. 
Yes, Jesus waits to see the time 
When He shall come to banish crime, 
And till the earth with joy, and peace. 
That light and knowledge, may increase. 
The millions that now sleep in dust, 
Who knew not God, but yet did trust 
That after death they would come forth, 
When sin is banished from the earth, 
And then, obey the voice of God, 
Though now they sleep beneath the sod. 



What Shall I Do with Jesus? 

His name shall be called Jesus, 
The sweetest human name; 

And by His name to teach us 
That it was to save. He came. 

What will you do with Jesus, 
Who is called Christ the Lord? 

Who came on earth to free us 
From sin^s accursed load. 

W^ill you believe in Jesus, 
Who died that we might live. 

And from our sins to free us. 
His perfect peace to have? 



WHAT SHALL I DO WITH JESUS? G3 

Will you despise this Jesus, 

Who wore a crown of thorns, 
And suffered death so tedious, 

With scoffs, and jeers, and scorns? 

Or, will you look to Jesus 

To bear your sins away. 
And so be numbered with us 

Who sing His praise to-day? 

I trust in none but Jesus 

To save me from my sin ; 
For Him my love increases. 

And I rejoice within. 

I love the name of Jesus ; 

It is the sweetest name — 
The best that God could give us 

To show for what He came. 

We come to God, through Jesus, 
The Life, the Truth, the Way^ 

Who by the spirit leads us, 
While here on earth we stay. 

There is no name but Jesus 

To save us from the fall; 
And He will never leave us 

While we on Him do call. 



64 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

For He did live in glory 
Before He came to earth. 

! how we love the story 
Of His most humble birth. 



What is Man, that Thou art Mindful of Him ? 

Mak by nature is a worm ; 
If touched by rudeness^ he will turn , 
He crawls and feeds^, for so he must. 
By sin he dies, and turns to dust; 
And yet he dies in expectation 
Of life again by resurrection. 
What God has promised unto all 
Who've lived on earth since Adam^s fall, 
If in this life he has well done, 
And only sinned against the Son, 
He then will find his sins forgiven, 
And live, and learn the way to heaven. 
But in no case shall he inherit 
If he blaspheme against the Spirit. 
And painful will his case then be 
Till he to Christ, has bowed the knee; 
For God has said the time will come 
When every name shall praise the Son ; 
He must his Maker glorify, 
And of the second death will die. 
The worm that lives out all its days. 
And has been true to nature's ways, 
Finds ample means itself to keep 
In folds of comfort in its sleep. 



WHAT IS MAX, THAT THOU ART MIXDFUL OF HIM? 65 

And when the blessed sleep is o'er, 

On wings of beauty it will soar, 

And taste the sweets of many a flower 

That blossoms in the sunny hour. 

So is the man who's born again, 

When his frail flesh aside is lain. 

He sleeps, but not in any tomb. 

In conscious waiting, till He come. 

Although he has not sung the song, 

His cry is still, " Lord, how^ long I " 

The answer is, "Yet longer rest, 

Till the full number of the blest 

Have through the tribulation come. 

When they shall reign on David's throne/' 

A man in his natural state, is the most helpless, and 
dependent of all creatures, in all that contributes to 
his physical wants, and his mental, or spiritual needs. 
Paul, the Apostle, says of himself, " I am nothing ; '^ 
that is, less than a worm. Self-preservation is said to 
be the first law of nature ; man will defend himself 
against everything that tends to destroy his life, or 
interfere with his happiness. If he be born again, 
and have the spirit of Christ, which is not of this 
world, he would then be like his Master, who, when 
He was reviled, reviled not again ; or, like the dis- 
ciples of old, who counted it all joy at the spoiling of 
their goods. For the very fact that the world, the 
flesh, and the devil are against us, is a proof that we 
are Christians. 

"Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." 



66 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

I have stated here that everything returns to its source, 
the body to the dust, and the life to the God who 
gave it. 

Christians are born of God, and are from heaven ; 
and when they put aside this earthly tabernacle, they 
ascend immediately to Christ, where they rest from 
their labors, and will come with Christ, when He shall 
come in the clouds of heaven. 

The Christian, is already raised because his natural 
man, was slain by the law. His body is dead, because 
of sin; his spirit is alive, because of righteousness. 
Sin kills, but lioUness keeps alive. ''God giveth it a 
body, as it hatli pleased Him.'" " Our house which is 
from heaven,^' and we will come with Him, when He 
comes, to call His own people from the grave, at the 
first Resurrection. 

'^The hour cometh, when they that are in their 
graves shall hear His voice, and they that hear, shall 
live. Marvel not at this, for the hour cometh when 
all, that are in their graves shall come forth." 

Now, it is beyond a doubt, that when our Lord 
spoke of these things, He had reference, to two dis- 
tinct resurrections, which are spoken of by John in 
the book of Revelation : '^ Blessed is he that hath 
part in the first resurrection ; for on him the second 
death hath no power. The rest of the dead live not 
again until the thousand years are finished/"^ John 
says: "I saw an angel come down from heaven, hav- 
ing the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain 
in his hand ; and he laid hold on the dragon, that old 
serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him 



HOW IS IT, NOW, THAT JESUS DIED? G7 

a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless 
pit, and shut him up and set a seal upon him that he 
should deceive the nations no more till tiic thousand 
years should be fulfilled ; and after tliat he must be 
loosed for a little season."' 

It is evident to me that this j^rediction of the Apos- 
tle John has reference to the unraised dead, and also 
to those who refuse to accept eternal life on the terms 
of the Gospel; which will be taught in its fullness 
during the reign of Christ, with His saints, on the 
earth for a thousand years. And the second Eesur- 
rection is not spoken of, because those that are to be 
deceived, include both these classes. Then, at this 
time, when the thousand years are finished, God will 
visit on them, the righteous judgments predicted in 
His Word ; when they sliall be tormented for five 
months, and gnaw their tongues for pain ; but will 
acknowledge in the end, like the thief on the Cross, 
that they suffered justly. I intend to treat this sub- 
ject, more at length in future pages. 

How Is It, Now, that Jesus Died? 

*' Death is the wages of sin. How came it that Jesus died? 
For He was holy and harmless ; the Lamb of God, without spot 
or Ilemish." 

How is it, now, that Jesus died, 

And that His body tbey did hide 

In sepulchre of solid stone. 

And watched by soldiers of old Rome ? 

It was because He broke a law 

That God had made long time before, 



68 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

That He who walked with foolish men 
Must (lie and in the dust be lain. 
How is it now He broke the Word? 
It was by calhng for a sword, 
For when He called, this they did do, 
Not only one, but they got two. 
The law is plural, as in schools 
Is taught, not fool, but that of fools. 
For if they had but got the one, 
The law would have no pov/er upon 
This holy Being God did send 
To save us from a dreadful end. 

One shall not die for others' sins. 

But for his own must die ; 
Although he be God's only Son, 

He cannot death defy. 

For if He should here break a law, 

To walk with foolish men. 
Himself must die and be no more 

Until new life begin. 

The law says that a companion of fools shall be 
destroyed (in the plural number). Xow, it is a sig- 
nificant fact that Jesus used only the singular num- 
ber in His call to the disciples, which goes to prove 
that He Himself did not break the law^ He called for 
one sword, but the disciples brought tico ; by which 
act He was brought under the law. Otherwise He 
could not have died. 



HOW IS IT, XOVV, THAT JESUS DIED? 69 

"And He said unto them, when I sent you without purse, or 
scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, noth- 
ing. Then said He unto them, but now, he that hath a purso, 
let him take it and likewise his scrip : and he that hath no 
sword, let him sell his garment and buy one. For I say unto 
you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in 
Me. And he was reckoned among the transgressors : for the 
things concerning Me have an end. And they said. Lord, 
behold, here are two swords. And He said unto them, it is 
enough." — St. Luke, xxii. 35-38. 

" When they which were about Him saw what would follow, 
they said unto Him, Lord, shall w^e smite with the sword?" 

**And one of them smote a servant of the high priest, and 
cut off his right ear." — St. Luke, xxii. 49, 50. 

" The soul that sinneth it shall die." 

*' The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither 
shall the father bear the iniquity of the son." 

" But when the righteous turneth away from his righteous- 
ness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth, according to all 
the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live ? 
All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned : 
in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he 
hath sinned, in them shall he die." 

'' For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in 
one point, he is guilty of all.'' — James, ii. 10. 

'' For it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in 
all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." 

" Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. He 
being made a curse for us ; for it is written, cursed is every one 
that hangeth on a tree." — Galatians, iii. 13. 

Enoch it was that walked with God, 
And did agree with all He said ; 
He was the only perfect one 
Of all our race beneath the sun. 



70 A VOICE FKOM TPIE PEW. 

This Enoch God did take to Heaven, 
To learn the truth that He has given; 
Nor will he die while ages roll, 
Because no sin came o'er his soul. 

Yet, of all men of woman born, 
There was no greater man than John; 
God leaves him in his grave to rest 
Till Jesus comes to raise the blest. 

But those who now believe in Him 
Who came to save them from their sin, 
Have won the victory o^er the grave, 
For now eternal life they have. 

" Of all men born of woman, there was none greater 
than John the Baptist; and he that is least in the 
Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he." Now, what 
is the Kingdom of Heaven ? The Kingdom of 
Heaven is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy 
Ghost, which no man possesses until he is born again. 
John says: '^I am from beneath; He that cometh 
after me is from above." John was of the earth — 
earthy. He heard from the outward ear. He was 
not born again, for the Holy Ghost was not yet 
given. It is by the Spirit alone that man is quick- 
ened into spiritual life and becomes a new creature. 
He has the witness in himself that he is born of God, 
and has passed from death unto life eternal in Christ 
Jesus our Lord. 

Even Peter, after he had followed the Lord and sat 



IlOVr IS IT, NOW, THAT JKSUS DIED? 71 

at His feet so mai^y vearG, and learned of Him who 
spake as never man spake, was admonished by the 
Lord, saying as follows: ^•"Whcn thou art converted, 
strengthen thy brethren.*' This makes it clear that 
lip to that time we know that Peter was not con- 
verted. But after the ascension of Christ, the Holy 
Ghost descended upon them according to the promise 
made to them. They then found themselves possessed 
of a power which they never had before; and this to 
them was the evidence that they w^re converted. 

''For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they 
are the sons of God," 

But John sleeps in the dust, awaiting the restitu- 
tion of all things by Jesus Christ, when the king- 
doms of this world shall become the Kingdom of our 
Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

When the saints who are the sons of God and heirs 
with Jesus Christ, will sit on David^s throne in Jeru- 
salem, and reign w^ith Christ a thousand years. John 
the Baptist is dead, and awaits the Eesurrection. 
" But he that liveth and believeth in Christ shall 
never die.'^ 

Christ says of Peter: ''Thou art Peter, and ui3on 
this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of 
Hades (death) shall not prevail against it.^' There- 
fore Peter lives and is numbered with those the Apos- 
tle Paul says are ministering spirits to them that are 
heirs of salvation. 

All live to God, whether he sleep in dust or sleep in 
Jesus. They that sleep in dust shall awake, and thev 
that sleep in Jesus God will bring with Him. 



72 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Now, God has made us certain rules, 
To guide our lives from death ; 

If man will keep himself from fools. 
Death cannot take liis breath. 

The fathers ate the heavenly food 
That God did send from heaven. 

And they who ate pronounced it good 
As any God had given. 

Although they ate this heavenly food 

That God in mercy gave, 
They murmured yet, nor understood, 

And they came to the grave. 

For if he violate the law 

To walk with foolish men, 
Himself must die and be no more 

Until new life begin. 

Death hath no joower where sin is not, 

Nor can he raise his arm 
To strike us down or cause a blot. 

Or even cause alarm. 

In Jesus Christ there was no guile — 

Himself did do no harm, 
But others'' sins did Him defile 

When He stood looking on. 

The greatest pains that Jesus Christ endured 
Were that our salvation might be secured ; 



INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY. 73 

^Twiis not as malefuctor He on the Cross was nailed, 

But in Gethsemane, where justice Him assailed. 

For all the pains of flesh or heart combined 

Are not compared with tortures of the mind. 

A wounded spirit— who can bear the shame! 

For none can come to this but is himself to blame. 



Individual Responsibility. 

Dr. Doddridge says : " The eternal salvation of 
one soul is of greater importance and big with greater 
events than the temporal salvation of a whole king- 
dom, though it were for a space of ten thousand ages, 
because there will come up a point — an instant — in 
eternity, when that one soul shall have existed as 
many ages as all the individuals of a whole kingdom, 
ranged in close succession, will, in the whole, have ex- 
isted in the space of ten thousand ages. Therefore, 
one soul is capable of a larger share of happiness or 
misery throughout an endless eternity (for that will 
still be before it), more than a whole kingdom is capa- 
ble of in ten thousand ages.^^ 

How can this reasoning be true and in accordance 
with Scripture, which says, ^^That which a man sows 
that shall lie also reap; and he that has done little 
shall be punished with few stripes, and he that has 
done much with many stripes''? But according to 
Dr. Doddridge, the punishment of each will be more 
than for the sins of the whole. 

If a company of one thousand persons owed me one 
thousand dollars, and I should collect one thousand 



74 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

dollars from each, would that be just ? Or, if one of 
tho company owed me one thousand dollars — the result 
of a private transaction — would it be just for me to 
hold the company resj)onsi))le for the debt of the 
individual? God says, ^'He that doeth the wrong 
shall suffer for the wrong/' 

Their punishment He'll not extend, 
And in five months it all Avill end ; 
Then they shall all be free from pain. 
And worship Him that once was slain. 

The ftuestion of Eternal Torment Answered. 

How strange it is that men should teach 

Errors when truth is in their reach, 

That Adam, in a thoughtless moment, 

Did that which brought eternal torment. 

That for one sin God would demand 

That man should be forever damned 

To an eternal lake of fire. 

Where he should weep, but ne'er expire. 

Or that the wicked all must go 

To an eternal world of woe, 

Where hope ne'er comes while they have breath, 

And Justice would deny them death. 

Such. doctrines make my blood run cold. 

To hear such falsehoods by men told. 

Heathen mythology is the source 

That gives these doctrines all their force. 

The Bible teaches no such thing, 

For words to prove it they can't bring. 



QUESTION OF ETERNAL TORMENT ANSWERED. 75 

There io not a word to teach the same 
From tlie beginning to amen. 
If I believed my sins demand 
That I, for sin, by God's command, 
Must suffer on eternally, 
Then how could I to Jeans flee, 
As all His sufferings were in time, 
Not for His sins, but were for mine ? 
And as His sufferings had an end, 
Then others^ wdll, you may depend. 

This question does not admit of argument. The 
Bible contradicts from first to last the theory of eter- 
nal torment, and teaches that the soul that sinneth, 
it shall die, and that those who, after having been 
enlightened, do despite the spirit cf grace by refusing 
God's terms of eternal life, will not escape the second 
death. Eternal life is the gift of God to those who 
seek. No man is compelled to live eternally, for God 
will have all men come to a knowledge of the truth 
to be testified in due time — God's time — either in this 
life or in that which is to come again at the first resur- 
rection, when all the people who are raised will have 
an opportunity to accept or refuse God's gracious offer, 
on the conditions provided in the Scriptures. But woe 
to them, Avho, after having come to a knowledge of the 
truth, turn away; for it is impossible for those who 
were once enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly 
gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and 
have tasted the good Word of God and the powers of 
the Avorld to come, if they fall away to be again re- 



7G A VOICE FEOM THE PEW. 

newed unto repentance ; seeing that they crucii'y to 
themselves the Son of God afresh, and ])ut Him to an 
open shame. '-'If we sin willfully, after that we have 
received the knowledge of the trath, there remaineth 
no more sacrifice for sins, but a fearful looking for of 
judgment and (iery indignation whicli shall devour the 
adversary. He that despised Moses' law, cZtW without 
mercy under two or three witnesses. How mucli sorer 
piinishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy 
who hatli trodden under foot the Son of God, and 
hath counted the blood of the covenant wherewith 
he was sanctified an unlioly thing, and hath done 
despite unto the spirit of grace. 

''- It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
living God ; bless the Lord, that He refuses none ; and 
will accept of all who will accept Him. Whosoever will, 
let him partake of the water of life freely ; but woe 
unto him that will not, as Jesus said in a parable, 
^Take these, that will not have Me to reign over 
them, and slay them before Me.' ^0 Ephraim, 
thou hast destroyed thyself? 

"At the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, 'and 
every tongue confess to the glory of God ' the Father. 
* And I, if 1 be lifted up, will draw all men unto Me.' 
There is not a being in the universe but must wor- 
ship Jesus Christ ; if not for His love, then for His 
justice, and His power. Of course this Avill include 
blasphemers. Their worship will be of short duration ; 
they are like the night-blooming cereus, of all plants 
the meanest that ever grew ; like themselves, it 
scarcely shows signs of life. Some people doubt the 



QUESTION OF ETERNAL TORMENT ANSWERED. ?7 

existence of these beings. Every bud blooms at the 
same hour, while sin is but for a time, showing that 
they all worship at the same time. It blooms in the 
night, like their deeds of darkness. Observe here, 
that it blooms in the night, not for children to see; 
they are supposed to be asleep. K"ot in the presence 
of the people are they punished, but in the presence 
of the saints, and all the holy angels. The people 
know nothing of the conflict that saints and angels 
have had vvith these beings. Its bloom, the grandest 
flower on earth I What a sight to behold God's en- 
emies worshiping Him ! Its fragrance accords with its 
beauty j their worship will be sincere. Like the 
flower which has no sooner bloomed than it begins to 
fade, becoming, long before a rising sun, a withered, 
noxious thing; so will their worship be of short 
duration. But what an awful spectacle for saints 
and angels to behold ! When the Book of Life is 
opened, and their names unwritten ; when they shall 
be cast into a lake of fire, which is the second death ; 
when they shall be as though they had not been. 
They hated God, and loved death. They get what 
they loved ; but they could not die until God had ful- 
filled all His purpose in them. 

They are to be punished in the presence of the 
saints and all the holy angels. It is not at all likely 
that we will witness their pains. Their greatest pun- 
ishment will be for them to be compelled to bow 
down and confess their sins, acknowledging the jus- 
tice of their punishment, and the power, wisdom, and 
truth of God. 



78 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

The past shall be forgotten then, 

And never come to mind; 
To be as though they had not been, 

For none their place shall find. 

The greatest human j^ains that justice will demand 
On people that will not comply with God's command. 
Are not that they should gnaw their tongues for pain, 
But that they worship Him wiio for their sins was 

slain. 
He who has wronged his neighbor in this world, 
Or taken that for which he hard hath toiled. 
Must yet bow down, and there liis sins confess; 
For he who's wTonged this way will yet redress. 
If man for sin away from God conld hide 
In dungeon dark or in the deep abide. 
And fail to stand before his Maker, God, 
Then v/ould all justice fail, as written in the Word ; 
But sure as God is true, so justice will not fail 
To place each wicked man in God's own righteous 

scale. 
For God the record has not failed to keep, 
And what a man doth sow, that shall he also reap. 

"That Day of the Lord." 

It is generally taught that the coming of Christ 
will be without warning of any kind ; that men will 
be following their usual vocations — away from the 
family fireside or in the land of the stranger — when 
in a moment, without any preparation, he is to be 



*'THAT DAY OF THE LORD." 79 

stricken down and cut off, ^Mvith all his imperfec- 
tions on his head.'' 

It cannot be possible that a wise and beneficent 
Creator intends to deal with us poor mortals in this 
summary manner. If this were the case, life would 
be terrible indeed, and our stay on this earth attended 
with constant dread and untold miseries. 

This I deny with all the emphasis that can be put 
in words. Due reflection and sufficient preparation 
will be accorded by his Maker to fit man for his 
final end. 

I will now endeavor to show, on the authority of 
the Scriptures, that there is a period of about four 
years from the close of the Christian era to the com- 
ing of Christ. This era, unlike the present^ is not an 
era of faith, but of knowledge ; for God says : " In 
that day ye shall hnow that I am the Lord.'' 

I will now attempt to give the evidence from the 
Scriptures on which I base my convictions. That 
which I have here stated is the order in which they 
will come to pass; and from the commencement of 
these events to the coming of Christ is 1,335 days. 
Dai^iel, xii. 12: '* Blessed is he that waiteth, and 
Cometh to the thousand three hundred and five 
and tliirty days." As no man could live that number 
of years, it must be days ; and the events which fol- 
low, taken in their regular order, would consume that 
length of time. 

Our Lord says that immediately after the tribula- 
tion of those days, " the sun shall be darkened and the 
moon shall be turned into blood.'' Joel says, " the sun 



80 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

shall be darkened, and the moon sl^all be turned into 
blood, before that great and terrible day of the Lord. 

The tribulation has reference to the experience of 
the Christians, who, through much tribulation, enter 
the Kingdom. This word 'Hribulation" always re- 
fers to the Christians; the ending of the days of 
tribulation is also the ending of the Christian era, 
and is, at the same time, the beginning of *'That 
Day," which, as I said before, will cover 1,335 days. 

The iirst event is the darkening of the sun, and the 
turning of the moon into blood. The darkness will 
continue until the third day; and in that night the 
Chrisiians will be taken away, to meet those gone be- 
fore, and to partake of the marriage supper of the 
Lamb. Moreover, in that night, God will send His 
Angels, who will gather such as He counts worthy, 
and hide them in His pavilion, so that all the tribes 
of the earth shall mourn, except the Jews, who will be 
passed over. Their mourning will not be so much 
because they have lost their dear ones, as their belief 
that God has forsaken them. 

Then soon the eaints will return to the earth, to 
preach the truth, with power, when there w^ill be such 
a revival of religion, that it will seem as if the whole 
world was being converted — there will be so little 
opposition. These converts, with their dear ones, 
God will hide in the wilderness, where He prepares 
a place for them. And He will feed them there for 
the space of three and a half years, or twelve hun- 
dred and sixty days. Allowing seventy-five days for 
the revival and hiding, v/e have, w^ith the 1,260, 1,335 



"THAT DAY OF THE LORD." 81 

days. God says: ^* I will shake the heavens, and the 
earth shall remove out of its place.'' 

This, I believe^ vviU be the cause of the darkness; 
and also, the cause of the removal of the Atlantic 
Ocean, causing all the rivers that run southward, and 
to the Atlantic in this country^ to dry up. Then the 
Jews will return to their own land by a highway that 
will be prepared for them. Where is now the Atlan- 
tic Ocean perhaps a railroad will be built, because the 
people will have little else to do. 

I believe that the crossing of the River Jordan, and 
the Eed KSea, w^as intended not only to deliver them out 
of Egypt, but also as a sign unto them of their deliv- 
ery from all lands. 

The Roman Empire is yet to rise in the glory of 
the kingdom ; but its glory will be brief. How this 
is to be brought about, 1 will endeavor to explain. 

I believe that, just before the preceding events, 
there will be a great commotion among the Moham- 
medans; tliat they v/ill rise en masse to establish 
themselves against all opposition, and numbering 
about two hundred and fifty millions of people, they 
will beat their ploughshares into swords, and their 
pruning-hooks into spears; and the weak will say 
they are strong, and w^ill come to the Mediterranean 
Sea, and attempt to overrun Europe, as in the days of 
Mohammed. Then the armies of all nations will as- 
semble to meet these rising hordes. When they are 
assembled, the sun will become darkened^ and the 
moon withhold her light. In that night the voice of 
God will be heard among them, telling them what to 



82 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

do, and pleading with them for His own land, Pales- 
tine. When the darkness has passed away, they will 
miss some of their friends, as others have; and they 
v/ill hear of the state of things among the nations, 
how, that no king cares for his crown, or prince for 
his place; because of the mourning throughout the 
eartli. 

Then these armies here assembled will obey the in- 
structions that they received from the voice in that 
night, which will tell them to combine all their forces, 
and establish a universal monarchy, consisting of ten 
kings, and seven persons, representing the different 
rehgious classes of the world. These will be all of 
one mind; they v/ill give up Palestine to the Jews, 
and aid them in the return to their own land. This 
empire will seem so permanent, that peace will be uni- 
versal. But soon a being will rise up with great 
power, who will exult before the people at the great- 
ness of this empire: and causing the people to make 
a great image, and inducing them to bow down and 
worship it. lie will give it power to speak in great 
swelling words, making them to have a mark in their 
hands, or in their foreheads, so as to show their be- 
lief in, and willingness to serve this monarchy ; and 
they will be forbidden to either buy or sell to any one 
without these marks. 

The saints, after having gathered the Church into 
the wilderness, will, like a great army, march around 
the world ; their ranks reaching from the north to 
the south, so that nothing can escape them. They 
will lav the land desolate, and destroy the sinners 



THE DAY OF THE LOUD. 83 

thereof out of it. Before them is as the Garden of 
Eden, but behind them is a desolate wilderness. 
Their work is to biud their kings with chains, and 
their princes with fetters of iron. " This honor shall 
have all His Saints." Many will refuse the mark, and, 
by the grace cf God, get the victory over all their 
enemies, and be hidden with those in the wilderness, 
together with those converted immediately after the 
dark day, so frequently referred to in this book. 



The Day of the Lord. 

The day is at hand w^liich the prophets foretold. 
And the Scriptures fulfilled, which were w^ritten of 

old; 
When the sun shall be darkened, the moon turned to 

blood, 
For the time is soon coming — the great day of God— 
When darkness, and blackness, shall cover the earth ; 
Men shall cease from their labors, their music and 

mirth, 
And people, as blind men, shall grope in the gloom. 
For God in His anger shall point to their doom. 
Then two in one bed, and but one shall be taken, 
And the other remain, that God has forsaken ; 
Or two at a mill, perhaps, grinding the corn — 
The one shall be taken, the other shall mourn ; 
Or two in a field— one is taken away ; 
The other, poor sinner, in darkness must stay, 
To cry in his anguish, ^^How I hated instruction ! 
And now I am left to my utter destruction.'^ 



84 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

The harvest is past, and the summer is gone, 
And the sinner at last is exposed to the storm. 
So he cries in his anguish, ^' My soul is not saved; 
He has left me to perish by the sins that I craved. 
The harvest is past and the summer is ended, 
And I am not saved, as I had intended. 
His mercy's clean gone, and I, in despair, 
Now cry unto Gcd, who refuses to hear!'' 

The above lines were written to sliow the state of 
mind in which they will be who are not taken in that 
night, when God shall visit the earth with darkness. 
These will fiud that God will fultlll His promises; 
that their mourning shall be turned into joy, and that 
'' weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in 
the morning." Or this: "In a little wrath I smote 
thee, but with great kindness will I gather thee." 
The saints, who will be taken in that night, will in a 
few days return to this earth again, with all those 
that have gone before, to bind the hearts of children 
to parents, and parents to children, lest He come and 
smite the earth with a curse, saying, '^This is that 
which is spoken by the Prophet Joel, and in the lan- 
guage of Zephaniah : ^Gather yourselves together — 
yea, gather together — nation not desired. Before 
the decree bring forth, before the day pass as the 
chaff, before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon 
you, before the day of the Lord's anger come upon 
you — seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth 
which have wrought His judgment. Seek righteous- 
ness, seek meekness. It mav be ve shall be hid in the 



THINGS TO COME. 85 

cliiy of the Lord's fierce anger.' ^' These words ^^ may 
be ' are equal to a promise, as there is r/o chance with 
God. And the saints, which no man can number, 
will preach the truth wath power. God sliall pour tlie 
latter rain upon men, wiien there shall be converted 
unto God a nation in a day. 

These God will hide in the wilderness, p^nd feed 
them there, for three and a half years, during which 
time He will visit the earth, with judgments and de- 
struction of ungodly men. Then He will come in 
clouds of glory, and all His saints with Him ; and 
these hidden ones will say: '^'This is our Lord! We 
have waited for Him.*' And all the Jews who have 
been gathered to their ow-n land, who are not slain by 
the brightness of His coming, will say: "Blessed is 
He that cometh in the name of the Lord.'' 



Things to Come. 

Who will keep the keepers now ? 
Or will they cause all men to bow ? 
For with their arms they have the power 
To crush the nations in an hour. 
There are ships enough in Egypt's waters 
To make the nations call for quarters; 
And if they had it in their mind, 
They could all powers in Europe grind 
To powder by their force of will, 
And make all kingly powers be still. 
I think this way our God has planned 
To visit judgments in the land. 



86 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

A day cf dnrkness then will come, 

When God will visit every one, 

And take away from each abcde 

One or more of those they loved ; 

And take of people not a few^ 

But not of him who is a Jew. 

And in that niglit the voice of God 

From Palestine will then be heard : 

He'll plead with them for His OAvn land, 

That all the Jews again may stand 

In and around Jerusiilem, 

When God all nations shall condemn. 

These mighty powers will then combine 

And force all nations into line. 

For Eome must yet come into power 

And have her judgments in an hour ; 

And they shall there to idol bow, 

And have His mark in hand or brow. 

Great Russia yet wnll occupy 

The lands that east of Egypt lie, 

For God will drive them all away, 

W^hen Israel shall return to stay. 

These wonders last about four years. 

When all the troubles and the tears 

That then shall come upon the earth, 

On lowly or on noble birth. 

A story that the Scriptures tell, 

Are troubles worse than e'er befell 

The v/orld ! since God our race has made, 

Or seen on earth, where man has stayed. 



THINGS TO COME. 87 

The foregoing lines were written some four years 
since, and are prophetic of events that have recently 
transpired. This, added to the short paragraph re- 
lating to Kussia, may interest the public. 

This Being, that I speak of, I think is none other 
than the devil, manifested in the Hcsh, and appearing 
in the form of a man, wlio will show himself in Pales- 
tine, after the return of the Jews, to claim to be God; 
and set himself up to be worshiped as God. 

Then he will be confronted by two men dressed in 
saokcloth, Moses and EUjah. Both these men will do 
miracles in the sight of the people. This Being will 
do the same wonders that Moses and Elijah do, in 
order to confuse the minds of the people. This will 
continue for three years and a half. During this 
time, there will be no rain upon the earth ; conse- 
quently there will be no work to do — "the land will 
enjoy its Sabbaths.'' 

In twelye hundred and ninety days from the day of 
darkness, this Being will set himself np in the temple 
as God. But he is none other than the "abomination 
of desolation,'' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, who 
will cause these two men to be put to death, and leave 
their bodies in tlie streets, unburied. After three 
days they will rise on their feet, much to the alarm 
of the people. Then Christ will be seen coming in 
the clouds, and these two men will ascend to meet 
Him, with all His saints who come with Him. 

Many of the incorrigible Jews will be slain by the 
brightness of His coming; and Satan will be bound 
and hidden for a thousand years. The people will 



88 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

say, '' Blessed is He that cometli in the name of the 
Lord! ' I'he hidden ones will cry, " This is our God ; 
we have waited for Him!" And they, with the Jews, 
will be caught up to meet Him in the air. Then God 
shall exalt every valley, and bring down every hill ; 
make the crooked places straight, and the rough 
places smooth. Hi,3 dead will come forth, at this the 
lirst resurrection, when the law shall go forth from 
Mount Zion, and the w^ord of the Lord from Jeru- 
salem. The rejected shall remain in their graves 
one thousand years, at the end of which time, they, 
with Satan, shall come forth, to receive punishment 
for their sins, as I have said in another place, and will 
bow down, and worship the Son, and will then die the 
second death, and become as though they had not 
been. Then God will create all things new. " The 
past shall not be remembered, or come into mind.^^ 
Now, Christ will reign with His Saints a thousand 
years on David^s throne in Jerusalem ; while heaven 
is His throne, the earth is His footstool, and He " will 
make the place of His feet glorious."' " There is a 
glory of the earthly, and a glory of the heavenly; he 
that overcoraeth, shall inherit all things,^' which in- 
clude both the heavenly and the earthly. 

And when the Jews shall see the sight 
Of Jesus coming in His might, 
Then seven thousand shall be slain. 
To turn to dust, and there remain 
Till the one thousand years are o'er, 
When God on them His wrath shall pour ; 



BLESSED IS HE THAT WAITETH. 89 

And iliesc blasphemers take their part 
With those that gave not God their heart. 
But blessed are they that God shall spare 
To rise and meet Him in the air. 

When they shall say, '^Blessed is He that cometh 
in the name of the Lord.'' 

Blessed is He that Waiteth and Cometh to the 
1,335 Days. 

Ix the book of Daniel I find these words, Avhicli I 
propose to briefly explain : 

" And He said, Go thy way, Daniel, for tlie words are 
closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 

** Many shall be purified, made white, and tried; bat the 
wicked shall do wickedly, and none of the wicked shall un 
derstand ; bat the wise shall understand. 

" And from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken 
away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there 
shall be a thousand two handred and ninety days." 

This abomination of desolation is no other than the 
devil incarnate, who, after twelve hundred and ninety 
days, will set himself np in the temple and exalt him- 
self above all that is called God, or is worshiped. K'ow, 
allowing about forty days for his exaltation and wor- 
ship, we have 1,335 days. 

^^ Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the 
tliouoand three hundred and five and thirty days.^' 

"But go thy way, Daniel, till the time of the end 
be ; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the 
end of the days.'^ 

From this it appears plain to me that Daniel was to 



93 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

die, or sleep in tlie gnivc, until the first resurrection, 
and that these propliccics were sealed until the time 
of the end. We are now living in the days when 
these things can be clearly understood, as we already 
know many of the prophecies to have been fulfilled. 
We are living in that ago predicted by the Apostle 
Paul, when men having itching ears, should cet up for 
themselves teachers who would set at naught the 
truth and preach things that v*ere pleasing. He also 
said that in the latter times men should give heed to 
seducing spirits and doctrines of devils {modern Spirit- 
ualism). For God says: ^'I will send upon them 
strong delusions, that they may believe a lie who re- 
ceive not the truth, but have pleasure in unrighteous- 
ness." 

In this connection, I quote from the 24tli chapter 
of Matthew, third verse: ^^And as He sat upon the 
Mount of Olives, the disciples came unto Him pri- 
vately, saying: Tell us, when shall these things be? 
and what shall be the sign of Thy coming, and of the 
end of the world ? " 

Jesus answered these three questions, but it appears 
that the disciples misunderstood Him. They inferred 
that the end would take place in that generation, be- 
cause Jesus said, " This generation shall not pass away 
till all these things be fulfilled." Whereas, the answer 
wliich Christ gave was to the first question, which re- 
Lited to the temple and to the words " these thingsP 

Before proceeding further, I refer to the prophecy 
of Daniel, where he asked, '-What shall be the end of 
these things?" and in a question before this, "How 



PLESSLD IS HE THAT WAITETH. 91 

Ions: shall it be to the end of these wonders?" The 
answer is : For a time, times and a half. It has been 
proved beyond question that this means 1/260 years* 
If we take the date of any event of the Church of 
Eorae, and add 1,2G0 years, we will have a corre- 
sponding termination. Daniel did not ask when the 
end would be, but the end of '^ these things.'' Now, 
the disciples had said to Jesus, '-See all these things,*' 
referring to the temple, which He said should be de- 
stroyed. And their reply was: ^'Master, when shall 
these things be ? '' To which Jesus answered : ^'This 
generation shall not pass away till all these things be 
fulfilled.'' But in consequence of Matthew writing 
this answer last, it was supposed to cover all the 
questions. In reply to the second question, Jesus 
said, " Then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man 
in heaven " (meaning in the skies). 

This was to be the sign to all people that the day 
of the Lord was at hand. When the sun shall be dark- 
ened, and the moon be turned to blood, or withhold 
her light — that was to occur immediately after " the 
tribulations of those days," which, it is clear, was in- 
tended to apply to all Christians, from the outpour- 
ing of the spirit at Pentecost until the sign which 
was spoken of to the disciples appeared. All of the 
events here alluded to were to come to pass between 
the sign and the coming of Christ. Joel tells us that 
" The sun shall be darkened and the moon shall be 
turned into blood heforc that great and terrible day of 
the Lord,'^ This day of the Lord does not consist of a 
* See page 135. 



92 A VOICE FROM THE FEW. 

single day, but a period of 1,335 days, or nearly four 
years ; and the darkening of the sun will continue 
until the third day. In that night the saints will be 
translated from the earth to the presence of Christ. 
And the Lord will send His angels to select fi^om 
every family one or more — the Jews, who will be 
passed over, excepted. Then shall the tribes of the 
earth mourn, not because they have lost their loved 
ones, but because they believed God had forsaken 
them, and that they Avere doomed to destruction; and 
iu despair they cry, " The harvest is past and the 
raimmer is ended, and we are not saved.*' It is then 
that they discover that the Jews had been passed over, 
and had no occasion for mourning. Then ten men 
Tjhall take hold on the skirts of a Jew, saying, '-We 
will go with you, for we have heard that God is with 
you." ^'And they shall be loved of all they that 
hated them.'^ In a little while the saints shall return 
from heaven, ^- to bind the hearts of children to pa- 
rents, and parents to children.^^ 

'- When there shall be converted unto God a nation 
in a day. (Isaiah, xxvi. 20, 21.) "' Come, my people, 
enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors 
about thee: hide thyself, as it were, for a little 
moment, until the indignation be overpast. For be- 
hold — the Lord cometh out of His place to punish 
the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity. The 
earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more 
cover her slain.^^ Those converted at that time are 
represented in the Eevelation (although this passage 
may have other meanings), and it is to these, I believe. 



BLESSED IS HE THAT WAITflTII. 93 

that it has reference. ^^ And the woman fled into the 
wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, 
that they should feed lier there a thousand two hundred 
and three-score days " (three and a half years). There- 
fore I believe, that these people will be hidden out 
of liarm's way, w4iere God will provide for them, 
while He visits His judgments on the nations ; and 
there they will remain until Christ comes in the 
clouds with all His saints. Then shall they say, 
'^This is our God; we have w^aited for Him." 

KoAV, allowing seventy-five days for their gathering 
and hiding, with 1,260 days for their waiting, w^e have 
1,335 days. These are the blessed ones who wait 
until the ending of the 1,335 days; but the saints 
wait until the beginning of the 1,335 days. • 

The word sacrifice is an added one, and should be 
omitted ; "from the time that the daily shall be taken 
away/' because there are no more sacrifices during the 
Christian era; our Lord, having been made a sacrifice 
for us, "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin.*' 

In the Lord's Prayer, we are taught to ask for our 
daily bread. The Christian dies daily. He offers np 
spiritual sacrifices daily, and that is the " daily *' that 
will be taken away ; his prayers will then be ex- 
changed for praise ; he is now renewed day by day, so 
that the word " daily '^ means the Christian era. 

And, as written by the prophet Daniel, the taking 
away of the " daily " is only another term for the clos- 
ing of the Christian era, which ends at the dark days. 
And the 1,290 days commences at the same time with 
the 1,335 days. This abomination of desolations is 



94 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

iiono other than the devil incarnate. "Woe to the 
inhabitants of the earth, for the devil has come down 
among you ; and knoweth that he hath but a short 
time.'^ This is the one that Christ speaks of as stand- 
ing in the lioly place : and the same one that Paul 
speaks of as exalting liimself above all that is called 
God, or is worshiped. Now, allowing 40 days, — proba- 
tionary number, — for his reign, and 1,'^DO from the set- 
ting up of the abomination, we have about 1,335 days. 

'^And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and 
they shall projohesy a thousand two hundred and 
three-score days.*' — Rev. xi. 3. These persons I be- 
lieve to be Moses and Elijah, v/ho, after the return of 
the Jew^s, will appear in Palestine clothed in sack- 
cloth, to preach to them for three and a half years, 
confronting the devil and performing miracles, dis- 
playing 230wers superior to his, and teaching the peo- 
ple all that is essential to their welfare. Now% allow- 
ing 75 days for the return of the Jews, and 1,260 for 
the two witnesses' prophecy, we have 1,335 days. 
Therefore, from this and other evidences, I conclude 
that a period of about four years would elapse from 
the sign to the coming of Christ with all His saints. 
And I have no doubt, that within this allotted time, 
God will bring to [)ass on the earth all that was fore- 
told by the j^rophets. 

I believe that IMcses and Elijah were both trans- 
lated, from the fact that they both appeared with 
Christ on the Mount, when Jesus was transfigured. 
Elijah, it is certain, was translated. And, as Moses 
wrote the first five books of the Bible, he certainly did 



RESTITUTION. 95 

not write the last chapter of Deuteronomy, where it 
speaks of his death. 

They are God's two witnesses ; one of the law, and 
one of the prophets. A witness must not give hear- 
say testimony, but testify only to that which he 
knows. They knew% because they had seen Him be- 
fore He came into the world; and, as they are yet to 
testify to this fact, they came to see for themselves, 
not that they doubted, but in order that others might 
believe. 

Restitution. 

He every valley shall exalt, 

And every hill bring low; 
And bring down every mountain-top, 

AYliere silent waters flow. 

He all waste places will restore, 

And let the bond go free ; 
For sickness, then, shall be no more 

On earth, from sea to sea. 

This is the land of promised rest, 

That Grod to man has given ; 
Where Abraham's seed the nations bless, 

But 'tis not that of heaven. 

For heavenly things no man can know, 

But by the Spirit given; 
His mind is held to things below. 

Till he is born of heaven. 



96 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard 

What God has made for them 
That trusted in His Holy Word 

For things laid up in heaven. 

For they that to His work are called 

Are now in Christ the chosen ; 
They are pilgrims in the world, 

And seek a house from heaven. 

For when their full of time shall come, 

That God to them has given, 
They pass from earth to heaven, tlieir home, 

To come with Christ from heaven. 

To bless the people on the earth 
' That God to Christ has given, 

That they may have a second birth, 
And be prepared for heaven. 

I have often been asked the question, " Of what use 
is the Temple ?^^ It stands as Christ on the earth. 
" If any man be in Christ he is a new creature." So 
must a man be in the Temple, to be born again 
and become a new creature. Spiritual things are 
spiritually discerned, and the natural man perceiveth 
them not, because they are spiritual. A man may 
know a great deal about God, but he cannot know 
God until he be born again ; he may know much 
about the Gospel, but he must have the experience of 
its power in order to possess it. 



TEMPLE WORSHIP AFTER THE RESTITUTION 97 

The Temple Worship After the Restitution. 

Thy Temple on the earth shall stand 

Again upon the promised land; 

For this is what our God hath said, 

That thy foundation shall be laid. 

Then they shall come from east and west, 

Of all the nations God has blessed, 

From north and south shall they come here, 

All they that learn their God to fear. 

If any nation do not come. 

Then they shall not be rained upon ; 

Their fields shall want the needed rain 

Till they shall turn to God again. 

They shall come up, yea, once a year. 

That they the Word of God may hear, 

And they will come with songs of joy. 

To serve the Lord, their best employ. 

They shall pass through the gates of gold, 

As people did in days of old ; 

But not as they, with blinded eyes. 

But taught of God, and therefore wise. 

Some shall pass through the outer court. 

Where Jew and Gentile do resort. 

To inner court, where they shall learn 

God^s wondrous truth and love to* man. 

Then they will go to upper rooms, 

And see the tables, knives, and tongs. 

The proof that J^sus died for man, 

According to the wondrous plan. 

Then those that in these rooms assemble 

Cry, "The Lord is in His Holy Temple; 



98 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Let all the earth keep silence now/' 
While we before our God do bow. 
They worship Him with one accord, 
And there confess that Christ is Lord, 

" With the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; and 
with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." 

Then they go up the winding stairs. 

For love has banished all their fears ; 

They turn, they turn, and turn again, 

And bless the Lamb that once was slain. 

Now they come to an upper room, 

The holy place, but not a tomb ; 

From here again they ne'er go forth 

To dwell with men upon the earth. 

For they that come within this dome 

Shall pass from thence to heaven, their home; 

But, like the saints, go back and forth. 

To visit men upon the earth. 

As angels then they will come down, 

To bless the ones God calls His own, 

And make them meet for His abode 

By teaching them God's holy Word. 

For as the angels they shall be. 

They are the pure their God shall see. 

These are the truths in Scripture written^ 

Men shall see angels come from heaven. 

This work goes on a thousand years, 

When God will wipe away all tears. 



THE THRONE OF DAVID. 99 

The Throne of David. 
When Christ has reigned a thousand years 

On earth and David's throne, 
A new creation then appears, 

When God shall reign as one. 

The New Jerusalem conies down, 

God's holy city pure, 
Where God, the Father, reigns alone, 

And ever shall endure. 

This city, with its pearly gates 

And streets of shining gold. 
Will prove how well our God creates 

For those within His fold. 

The tree of life will then appear 

With fruit like shining gold. 
That he who eats need never fear 

Of weakening when he's old. 

And by its side that river pure. 

Where we may drink and live ; 
And life eternal we secure, 

With all that God can give. 

^^For He must reign till He hath put all enemies 
under His feet." 

'^ The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 
For He hath put all things under His feet." But 

LofC, 



100 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

when He saith all things are put under Him^ it is 
manifest that He is excepted which did put all things 
under Him. 

" Aiid when all things shall be subdued unto Him, 
then shall the Son himself be subject unto Him that 
put all things under Him, that God may be all in all." 
—1 Cor. XV. 25-28. 

To illustrate my understanding of this subject: 
Supposing a largo ship, loaded with a very valuable 
cargo, should sink to the bottom of a river, and the 
owner should engage a person, for a fixed compen- 
sation, to save all that was of any value to him (the 
owner). The contractor being confident in the final 
result of his efforts to complete his contract, made 
his preparations accordingly; and when the work w^as 
completed he had exhausted all his personal resources. 
Suppose, now, that this man, instead of delivering 
up what he had saved, should claim it for himself. 
Such a demand would not be according to the contract, 
nor would it be just. 

God's Throne. 

High in the heavens, where angels dwell, 
There God has placed His throne; 

This God that doeth all things well 
Will there prepare my home. 



God reigns on high and over ail- 



None can escape His eye ; 
And he who fails on Him to call 
Shall not be saved, but die. 



GOD'S THRONE. 101 

God Oil His throne tliis earth shall rule, 

And make all men to know 
That all the earth is God's footstool, 

Where they must humbly bow. 

Jesus will reign on David's throne, 

With all His saints as one ; 
Jerusalem shall be our home 

When we with Him shall come. 

Jesus will reign in heaven above; 

In Him all fullness dwells; 
He fills the universe with love — 

For this my bosom swells. 



** To him that overcometh will I ^ant to sit with Me in My 
throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with My 
Father in His throne." — Rev. iii. 21. 

The whole creation groans to see 

The happy future yet to be, 

When God shall all His word fulfill. 

And all creation do His will. 

The sons of God will then be known, 

For they will sit on David's throne. 

To reign with Christ a thousand years. 

When truth and love shall banish fears. 

Yes, Jesus waits to see the time 

When He shall come to banish crime, 



103 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

And fill the earth with joy and jieace. 
That light and knowledge may inerease. 
For milhons that now sleep in the dust 
Who knew not God, but yet did trust 
Tliat after death they would come forth 
When sin is banished from the earth, 
And then obey the law of God, 
Though now they sleep beneath the sod. 

The Witnesess. 

Ye are my witness, saith the Lord, 

To testify and prove my word, 

And to declare my righteousness, 

And my great love and willingness. 

To save you, by My only Son, 

AYho suffered all that He has done; 

For you He lives and pleads above. 

That you might know my boundless love. 

For you the spirit works within. 

And has convicted you of sin. 

And pointed you to Christ the Son, 

Who suffered for the sins you've done. 

For Christ came not to save the good. 

But for you sinners shed His blood. 

That you might know and testify 

Why God had sent His Son to die; 

That all the world might learn His love, 

And be made harmless as a dove. 

To love to hear the story told. 

Of what was done in days of old. 



TO DECLARE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. 103 

Of Jesus, who was born a babe ; 
Our Lord, though in a manger laid. 
How angels sang His praises there, 
Above the shepherds in the air. 
How wise men from the East did come. 
And worshiped Him as God the Son. 
They came, yea, many miles afar. 
As they were guided by the star. 



To Declare His Righteousness. 

Whe:n" man had failed the law to keej), 
And gone astray like a lost sheep, 
Then God did send His only Sou, 
That of the lost He should lose none ; 
But save them from their sins, to live, 
x\nd give them victory o^er the grave. 
He kept the law in every part, 
And loved His God with all His heart; 
He w^as the only perfect One, 
Who kept the law as He had done. 
He kept the law to satisfy 
The guilt of sinners doomed to die ; 
And what is more. His life did give 
That they eternal life should have. 
If we believe and trust in Him, 
Then we by grace are free from sin. 
He shields us from the law^s demand. 
For in His righteousness we stand ; 
And in His likeness we shall be, 
When we His face in glory see, 



104 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

And sing the praise that's due to Him, 
Who by His blood cleansed us from sin ; 
Then in His glory have a share, 
And thus, His righteousness declare. 



Mortality. 

That born of jflesh must pass away, 
All substances must change ; 

There's nothing fixed, nor can they stay, 
For God did so arrange. 

Except a man be born again, 

Of water and the blood, 
Or has not by the law been slain, 

He cannot see his God. 

For God is spirit, and unseen 

By flesh and dust of man ; 
He only sees who's born again 

Of spirit, then he can. 

The highest thought that man can get, 

While he in flesh remain, 
Is what he learns at Nature's feet, 

Till he be born again. 

And Jesus taught of earthly things, 

When with the multitude ; 
But not the things that Heaven brings, 

Till man is born of God. 



HEAVENLY FOOD. 105 

Heavenly Food. 

Now he that eats what Jesus gives, 

And drinks this water pure, 
Shall never die, for Jesus lives, 

And lives for evermore. 

For Jesus came that we might live, 

And prove His power to save ; 
If we the Spirit do receive, 

Then w^here^s '' death^'s sting, grave ! '' 

Nor will we trust in things of earth. 

As many others do. 
But hold them at their proper worth, 

And love our neighbor too. 

Now, free from sin, we shall not die. 

But pass from earth away. 
To be with Christ above the sky. 

And come with Christ that day. 

For w^hen He comes to earth again, 

To bless the earth with peace. 
He, with His saints, on earth shall reign, 

And knowledge shall increase. 

The people then shall know the Word, 

And none of them need say 
To neighbor, "Knowest thou the Lord?'^ 

For all shall know, that day. 



106 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 



What is the State of Man After Death? 

That depends on what he was in this life. If he 
has been born again, he still lives; for the gates of 
death cannot prevail against him. When he was born 
again, the first, or natural man, died ; and he, the 
man, became a new creature ; having passed from 
death unto life. It is decreed that all men should 
die, because of sin. If he died unto sin, and was made 
alive unto righteousness, then the spirit of truth must 
have come to him, and convicted him of sin, of 
unrighteousness, and of judgment to come; and, 
through fear of that judgment, he trembled at the 
Word, and fled for refuge to the hope set before him 
in the Gospel, which he could not have understood, 
but by having become spiritual. 

Seeing that the natural man cannot perceive spirit- 
ual things, this spiritual regeneration is necessary ; 
this is the evidence of his new birth. He was once 
blind, now he sees and believes; and he that be- 
lieveth shall never die. As God prepared a body for 
Christ, His Son, who lived before He came into this 
world, so Christ has gone to prepare a place for us; 
^'God giveth it a body, as it hath pleased Him." If 
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature; the old 
order has passed, and given place to the new. 

" Suppose ye that these eighteen, on whom the 
Tower of Siloam fell, were greater sinners than others? 
I tell you, nay ; for except ye repent, ye shall all 
likewise perish,'' that is, die. Then why Avill you not 
die, if you repent ? Because you will not repent 



WHAT IS THE STATE OF MAX AFTER DEATH ? 107 

until you die/^ What is repentance ? It is to turn 
about, or to clumge yourself ; and you have no 
power to do that unless you are made new ; for the 
natural man cannot understand the things of the 
spirit, but is dead to all heavenly things. You must 
be born again, and become a new creature. 

What is it to be born again ? It is to let the law of 
God be executed on you after the spirit of truth has 
convicted you of sin ; then Christ redeems you from 
the law, and makes you a new creature. What is this 
new creature ? It is to be a new spirit ; the old spirit, 
or natural man, must be cast out of your body, and a 
heavenly spirit take its place. That is being born of 
God, after which you have eternal life in you ; and 
you, being in Christ, are safe ; and He abides in you. 
In fact, you are one in Christ; and as He lives, you 
shall live also. 

A stream cannot rise higher than its source. The 
natural man is of the earth — earthy. He came from 
dust, and returns to dust. The spiritual man is born 
of God. God is the source. Hence it is that he can 
rise as high as the source from whence he came. He 
came from God, and he goes to God. 

Christ Jesus, the Son of God. dwelt in the bosom 
of the Father before the world was. He was the ex- 
press image of His person. This glorious personifi- 
cation He laid aside when He came to earth, and w^as 
born in the manger, of a virgin. He became a natural 
man, and was led by the Spirit into all truth, thus 
proving that He was a Son of God. "For as many as 
* See page 53. 



108 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of 
God." So man that is born of the Spirit lays aside 
his natural body and passes from earth, to be with 
Christ — to a glorious body that He has gone to pre- 
pare. '' God giveth it a body as it liath pleased Him.'^ 

" There is a spirit that goeth downwards ; and there 
is a spirit that goeth upwards." And life is a spirit; 
therefore, it means life. And hence it is, since there 
can be no action without an organization, that the 
saints will possess a body, because their works will 
not cease, but follow them. But the natural man, 
Avhen he dies, is buried in the dust from whence he 
came, and his thoughts perish with him until Christ 
shall raise the dead. 

''To be carnally minded is death, but to be spirit- 
ually minded is life.^^ 



To the King Eternal, Immortal, and Invisible. 

God made all things for His own glory; and the 
glory of God consists in the manifestation of His 
power. His goodness, and His truth ; and, as the 
Scriptures say, ''Whom to know aright is life eternal.^' 

We can believe where we have confidence, but to know 
is by our experience or the overwhelming evidence of 
others. For instance, I know that there is such a place 
as Paris, although I have never seen it. Knowledge 
is that state of the mind where doubt is impossible. 

If God could have made beings to know without 
proof, then the making of man was folly, and the high- 
est conception of any created intelligence is to believe 



TO THE KING ETERNAL. 109 

and trust ; but to know is the result of absolute proof. 
And as God knows both good and evil^ man must also 
know good and evil in order to know God. 

Paul says: '' I know whom I have believed." So 
that our present condition is part knowledge and part 
belief. Again he says : " Now I know in part, and 
when that which is perfect is come, then I shall know 
even as I am known." 

I believe that the saints, who are all one in Christ, 
Vv'ill be the first of r.U intelligences to know God; for 
they are to be with Christ and reign with Him a 
thousand years on this earth, after which God will 
create all things new. Then will be brought to 
view the river of water of life and the tree of life ; 
where I shall stand in full consciousness that im- 
mortality is within my reach, because I believe God, 
Avho said, ^^He that eateth of the fruit of this tree 
shall never die.'^ Eternal life is the gift of God, and 
a gift implies acceptance on the part of the receiver. 
None are forced to accept eternal life. In my eager- 
ness to possess immortality I am naturally drawn to 
the tree. I know that God knows all things, but I 
do not. I can trust Him, but I cannot trust myself. 
I do not know what change may take place in me. 
This thought makes me hesitate, and I hear a voice 
saying, ^MVhosoever will, let him take of the water 
of life freely.^^ I answer, *'Not so. Lord." He says, 
'* Why not?" I reply, " Lord, I have a faculty from 
which doubt arises, and whilst that remains I fear to 
trust myself. I believe all things, but I do not Icnoio 
all thingsJ^ 



110 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

''What is it that you do not know?^' ''I do not 
know but that there may be some other god or gods. 
As there is no limit to space, there may be room 
enough for any number of gods. But Thou hast 
said, There is no other God besides Me. I know not 
of any; but, Lord, / ivould hnoiu, also, if tliere are 
any.^' " Hast thou considered the heavens, the work 
of my lingers?'^ ''Yes, Lord." "What is the dis- 
tance from the earth to the sun? " I answer, "About 
ninety-five milHons of mxiles." " How far to the re- 
motest planet ? ^^ " Many milUons of miles." " How 
far to the nearest fixed star?" '^ About three and a 
half trillions of miles." "This being so, there must 
be a furthermost." 

Then again comes the question, " What is beyond 
that?" 

God says, "Hast thou considered my swift messen- 
gers " (the comets), " which travel about as fast as the 
light, and yet take hundreds of years to complete 
their circuit around the sun ? " " Yes, Lord, but 
where do they go ? " 

To this He answers : " To the depths of the depths ; 
far, far beyond all created things, into the blackness 
and darkness of infinite space ; carrying their light 
before them, penetrating that darkness for untold 
millions of miles. And this they have done long, 
long before man was created. A_nd this whole uni- 
verse, like a flock of birds, ever on the w^ing, has 
moved in a circuit vast and undisturbed, controlled 
by no other will save mine." 

This removes all possibility of a doubt. Now I can 



TO THE KIXG ETERXAL. Ill 



eat of its fruit and drink of tliis water, with full as- 
surance that nothing can arise to disturb my eternal 
Iiappiness. 



The heaveus declare tbe glory of God; and the firm amen t 
showeth His handy- work. Day unto day uttereth speech, and 
night unto night showeth knowledge. — Psalms xix. 1, 2. 

Thou art a God ; yea, God alone, 
The ever living, glorious One, 
Who built this universe of ours, 
And yet did not exhaust Thy powers. 
Who made this great, revolviug world, • 
Where I so many works behold — 
The sun, the moon, and planets great — 
^Tis Thou that fixed them in their state. 
And distant stars that shine so bright, 
That shine without a borrowed Jight, 
And would shine on Avithout our sun, 
Yea, shine, though other suns were gone. 
These mighty orbs have work to do, 
For they have many planets, too. 
Who need their light to make them shine. 
Though all unseen by eyes like mine. 
These Avondrous comets come and go 
Like mighty pendulums, to and fi^o ; 
Far, far beyond created things, 
Yet round its parent sun it swings. 
And then goes off to distant space. 
With searching power to find a place 
Where any other god might be. 
That by his light he there could see. 



112 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

In distant space, wliere darkness reigns. 
To find but darkness for his pains, 
And then returns, that all may see 
There is no other God but Thee. 



Thou art the everlasting God, 

The uncreated One, 
The source and spring of every good, 

From whom all things have come. 

To contemplate the thought sublime 
That Thou didst not begin, 

It does enlarge this heart of mine, 
And stirs my soul within. 

Eternal ages past and gone 

Are but as yesterday; 
Eternal ages yet to come 

To Thee are but a day. 

The past and present in Thy sight, 

And future yet to come. 
Now contribute to Thy delight 

As though they all were done. 

The future is all known to Thee ; 

None can resist Thy will ; 
Eternal ages yet will see 

Thy works Thy Word fulfill. 



LUCIFER'S SOLILOQUY. 113 

Lucifer's Soliloquy. 

There's not a thing but God hath made — 

E'en good or evil, hght or shade. 

He made the darkness and the light. 

And all are open to His sight. 

Now God has made what are called evils, 

And also made what He calls devils; 

But when He made them they were good, 

As angels they before Him stood ; 

Then God did give them all a choice 

To disobey or heed His voice ; 

And some of them, with selfish pride, 

Did as they pleased, and God defied. 

Then God took from them all the good 

That they possessed when they stood 

As holy beings in His sight. 

And cast them down in chains of night. 

It was not God who made them bad. 

But He took from them what they had— 

For what they had belonged to Him — 

And left them nothing but their sin. 

So now they have no one to blame 

For their sad state of sin and shame. 

And God did not provide a way 

For their escape in that great day. 

"O Lucifer, San of tlie Morning! I saw tliee fall like 
lightning from lieaven." 

Now, long before the earth w^as made 
God's hosts of angels Him obeyed. 
They loved to do His bidding then, 
For God did seem so s^ood to them. 



114 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Now God did know that they did stand, 
Not in their strength, but by His hand ; 
And God did know what was in them, 
A tendency to turn from Him; 
For God did give them all a will 
To come, or go, or to be still. 
He did not force them to obey, 
But let them serve Him as they may. 
When God did bring His first-born Son, 
The greatest work that He had done ; 
Then on a time. He said to them, 
"Let all the angels worship Him.'^ 
"What !" say some; "must we bow down 
To worship Him who^s but a Son ! '^ 
Said they : " Are we not sons of God, 
Did He not make us by His word ? 
What more, then, can this stripling be ? 
Though he Avas grand, and fair to see. 
What ! must I bow to my equal. 
And all eternity to dwell 
With jealous rage within my breast ! 
How can I stay, or be at rest ? 
For I have thought to stand en high. 
Where I could reign, and God defy; 
Much less to stand where now does He, 
That I am called on to obey. 
How long, in secret, have I planned 
To see the time when I would stand 
On high, above the stars of God, 
That all should tremble at my nod. 
But now this Being has my place. 
And all I have, is by His grace ; 



LUCIFER'S SOLILOQUY. 115 

I will not yield to worship Him, 

Though by this act commit a sin; 

And then be hurled from heaven's high dome 

To wait in darkness for my doom." 

God knew their thoughts, and with a frown, 

As with the lightning, cast them dow^n. 

In chains and darkness to remain, 

To share the fate of wicked men. 

Now, when they fell from heaven above. 

They caused a multitude to move ; 

A third i^art, there was dragged down, 

That God w^ould not as angels own. 

Those that fell, He bound in chains 

Of darkness, wiiere but evil reigns. 

Some found themselves on earth as men 

Distinguished by a darker skin ; 

To prove them not of Adam's race 

To every one who sees their face. 

Yet on the earth they multiplied, 

And like all others, lived and died. 

Yet God will bring them forth again. 

From the cold grave where they have lain ; 

To all the good that God will give 

To every one that will receive. 

So that the loss will be but small. 

Compared with those that God will call 

From grave to earth, from earth to heaven. 

To fill the place from whence they'd fallen. 

'' This tliy brother, was dead, and is alive again ; was lost, 
and Is found." 



116 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

The Colored Races. 

My authority for stating that the colored races are 
descended from the fallen angels, is from Jewish tra- 
ditions ; and all my studies and researches have only 
tended to confirm this view. 

A gentleman, in whose judgment I had great con- 
fidence, asked me if I believed that all the races of 
men came frotn the loins of Adam. I answered him by 
asking another question, which w^as, " The South Sea 
Islander, and how did he get there ? " He admitted 
that the Ham theory was, at the best, extremely vague 
and unsatisfactory. If I were a colored man, I would 
prefer to believe that my ancestors were incarnate 
angels, rather than accept the belief that my color was 
the result of the curse of Ham. 

There can be no doubt at all that the Arabs are the 
descendants of Abraham, being the children of Hagar, 
which all records fully confirm. 

I quote here from the Apostle Paul, ^^By man came 
sin, and death by sin, and death passed upon all, for 
all have sinned/' Sin is not of man, but of the devil. 
Now the question arises, when did sin enter the world? 
As sin came by man, not men ; that man must have 
been Adam. And now, as none can die, except by gin, 
it follows that the incarnate angels may have lived on 
earth a thousand years before the creation of Adam, 
without one death occurring among them. Now, the 
first of the race of Adam lived to a great age, nearly 
a thousand years. After sin entered the world, then, 
certainly, these could have lived so long. 



SATAX INCARNATED. 117 

The devil knew better than to tempt them to sin, 
because they knew him, and had already felt the 
power that he exercised before the fall from Heaven ; 
so that God in His wisdom and mercy, who openeth 
His hand and satisfieth the wants of every creature, 
did, no doubt, prove to them that His goodness is 
over all, and His tender mercies over all His works. 



Satan Incarnated. 

Woe to the people of the earth ! 

For Satan's coming in great wrath. 

Then he shall incarnate be — 

That awful being we shall see ; 

This God-defying imp that fell 

Is coming down on earth to dwell. 

For now he's prince and povver of air. 

And by God^s power is kept there. 

His work it is to try the saints, 

And is the cause of their complaints. 

He tries all people to annoy. 

This wicked one God will destroy. 

But when he comes great works he'll do 

To try to prove God's word untrue. 

He will stand in the holy place 

And try his Maker to disgrace. 

But God shall smite him to the ground, 

That he on earth no more be found. 

And God will come with all His saints 

And stop the cause of these complaints, 



118 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

And bind this fiend a thousand years 
To trembhng anguish, rage and fears. 
And then he will come forth again. 
And with the wicked shall be slain. 

The actions of Satan before the fall may be likened 
to a wicked clerk who is planning to damage his 
master's business and bring about a failure, in order, 
eventually, to obtain the business for himself. He 
steals his money and goods, makes false entries in his 
books, forges his master's name, quarrels with the 
other employes, and tries to have them discharged or 
placed in positions lower than his, so that he could 
have a certain amount of control over them. Mean- 
while his master has been watching. After he knows 
the employe has gone far enough, he calls him into 
his office and, shutting the door, says to him: ^^ You 
are no chicken, you scoundrel ! I know you. Empty 
your pockets ! Give me that memorandum-book of 
yours, and that bank-book. You are in my power 
now. I am too wise to chasten you at this time." 
Then he kicks the dishonest clerk into the street, tell- 
ing him that justice will surely overtake him. 

Three Songs of the Revelation. 

I QUOTE from Revelation, fifth chapter, ninth to 
thirteenth verses. 

"And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art 
worthy to take the book, and open the seals thereof : 
for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by 



THREE SONGS OF THE REVELATIOX. 119 

thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and peo- 
ple, and nation; and hast made us unto our God 
kings and priests : and we shall reign on the earth." 
These two verses form the song of the saints only. 

"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many 
angels round about the throne, and the beasts" (or 
living creatures, as I understand it,) "and the elders; 
and the number of them was ten thousand times ten 
thousand, and thousands of thousands ; Saying with 
a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to 
receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, 
and honor, and glory, and blessing." This song is 
sung by the countless numbers of both saints and 
angels; but in the verse that follows this, the whole 
universe of intelligences (which consists of the angels, 
servants, saints, people, blasphemers, and devils) will 
join in the singing. 

"And every creature which is in heaven, and on the 
earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, 
and all that are in them, heard I saying. Blessing, 
and honor, and glory, and power be unto Him that 
sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever 
and ever." Thus fulfilling the promise, that at the 
name of Jesus (who is the Lamb) every knee shall 
bow, and every tongue confess to the glory of God the 
Father. It is to be noticed that in this song they 
w^orshiped the Lamb la:t, whereas in the former songs 
they worshiped the Lainb first. 

Kow, the fact is significant in reference to the dis- 
obedience of some of the angels before tjie fall ; they 
having refused to worship the Son; they worshiped 



120 A VOICE FKOM tiil: pew. 

the Liimb last. And these were the last words that 
they uttered j)revious to then- destruction. These, 
with the blasphemers, worshiped the Lamb tlirough 
justice and ])ower ; whereas all others worship Him 
througli love. And as they were enjoined in the first 
place to worship the Son, and failed to do so, yet, after 
a vain resistance to the Almighty power, they were 
compelled at last to obey the mandate of God, that 
they should worship the Son. Yet, after this has 
been accomplished by the power of Jesus Christ, they 
are still rebellious, and obey the devil, who gathers 
them together in camp about the Holy City; when 
lire will be rained down upon them from heaven, and 
they will be consumed, and become as though they 
had not been. 

The punishment of the blasphemers, before they 
worshiped the Son, I have treated of in another part 
of this book. 



The Return of the Jews. 

To doubt that the Jews will return, is to doubt the 
word of God. There is no truth of Scripture more 
chcarly revealed than that which relates to the return 
of the chosen people of God to their ov/n land, and 
nothing less than the miracle of the drying up of the 
Atlantic Ocean would be sufficient to induce them 
ever to return. 

Then will the Jews return again 

To their own land, from whence they came; 



THE RETURN OF THE JEWS. 121 

For things thafc then shall come to pass, 

Will be so great that every class 

Of people then upon the earth 

Shall seek the land that gave them birth. 

Then all those poor, forsaken Jews, 

Who all the nations did abuse, 

Will be exalted in the eyes 

Of those that now their race despise. 

A great Deliverer then will come 

To lead them to Jerusalem. 

He then a highway shall prepare 

Where now the mighty waters are ; 

For then the ocean will be dried, 

That they in railroad cars may ride. 

For God will say to deeps, " Be dry/' 

Nor will they wait to ask Him why ; 

For they will then His word obey 

And from His presence flee away, 

As sure as they the Jordan crossed, 

Or the Eed Sea, where none were loLt, 

Bat Pharaoh, vv'ith his mighty host, 

Was drowned, and there gave up the ghost. 

So will the Jews yet take their stand 

In Palestine, and go by land; 

And ships shall bring their sons from far. 

From every land, where'er they are. 

They no more speak of Pharaoh's hand — 

They now are brought from every land. 

The hidden tribes now in the East — 

Though intercourse so long has ceased — 



122 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Will como again to their ovrn lands, 

And with the scattered tribes shake hands. 

*' I will bring thy seed from the east and gather thee from 
the west/' — Isaiah, xliii. 5. 

I would simply state that it is evident to me that 
what is now being taught by a sect called " The Lost 
Israel Identification Society," is undoubtedly an error, 
which I will here attempt to prove. I quote from 
Jacob's sayings to the twelve tribes: ^^ I will divide 
them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.'' He thus 
makes a distinction between dividing and scattering, 
showing plainly that a certain part of them were to 
be separated from the rest, to fulfill the great purpose 
cf (iod, where He will prove to all mankind that 
every good and perfect gift comes from above, and 
that a man can receive nothing except it be given him 
from Heaven, either for this life or for that which is 
to come. From Balaam's words I quote again : "There 
chall come a star out of Jacob." Xow^, wdien Jesus was 
born in Bethlehem, wise men came from the East, say- 
ing: ^^ Where is He that is born King of the Jews? 
For we have seen His star." And they sent them to 
Herod. Now% if these men had lived at any inhabit- 
able point west of the desert of Gobi, they would not 
have needed a star to guide them, nor would they 
have gone to Herod, for all must have known that all 
Jiidea w^as in possession of the Eomans, who had no 
interest in common with the Jew^s in the coming of 
the infant Christ. 

Herod asked them what time the star appeared; 



THE RETURN OF THE JEWS. 123 

the answer they gave is not recorded in the Script- 
ures ; but, from the actions of Herod afterwards, the 
answer must have been, a year and a half from the 
time when they first saw the star, for Herod com- 
manded them to return to him after they had found 
the child. But they, being warned of God, returned 
another way. Then Herod was wroth, and ordered 
that all the male children of Bethlehem, and all the 
coasts thereof, from two years old and under, should 
be put to death, according to the time that he dili- 
gently inquired of the wise men. 

This corresponds with what Esdras says in the 
Apocrapha, II. Esdras, xiii. Speaking of the ten 
tribes who had been held captive by the king of 
Assyria for two hundred years, after which tliey were 
given their liberty, it is said they took council among 
themselves, that they would leave the multitude of 
the heathen and go forth into a farther country, 
where never man dwelt ; and they entered into Eu- 
phrates by the narrow passages of the river. 

The Most High then show^ed signs for them, and 
held still the flood, till they were passed over; for, 
through that country there was a great way to go ; 
namely, a year and a half. The same region is called 
Arsareth, which, no doubt, is Eastern Asia; so that 
if they traveled eighteen miles per day, which is 
about the average distance traveled by a caravan, 
that would make about fifteen hundred miles, wdiich 
would bring them east of Tartary, and to the south- 
ern part of Eussia, north of China, to the mountains 
near the Pacific Ocean. 



124 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

When the Jews asked of Jesiis^ if He would go to 
the dispersed among the Gentiles, tliey evidently be- 
lieved that the nine and two half- tribes liad incurred 
the anger of the Lord, who visited upon them all the 
punishments jn-edicted by Moses. For well they 
knew that Moses had written that if they failed to 
keep his statutes, they should be scattered among all 
nations, and become a hissing and a by-word. The 
fact that these had disappeared, was strong evidence 
that they themselves were the favored ones, and 
Avoukl inherit all the good that God had promised 
Israel; and that these nine and two half-tribes had 
been dispersed among the Gentiles. Now, these 
tribes wore called Jacob, as distinguished from Israel, 
and the remaining one and two half-tribes were called 
Israel. This is apparent from the fact that Jesus 
in every case, referring to the Jews, called them 
Israel; thus showing that they were the people to be 
scattered among the nations, which history abun- 
dantly proves. 

As further evidence that God had hidden these 
tribes in the East, He said : '- 1 will bring thy seed 
(Jacob) from the east, and gather thee from the west ;^' 
so that, all throughout the Scriptures, in spealdng of 
Jacob, the word " bring ^' is continually used; and 
when referring to Israel, the word is ^^ gather" in all 
cases ; wdiich goes to prove that He has divided them 
in Jacob and scattered them in Israel. 

When the World's Fair w^as held in London, in 
1850, some Tartars exhibited goods that w^re evi- 
dently of Jewish manufacture, which they said they 



THE RETURN OF THE JEWS. 125 

procured from a people living east of themselves. 
These goods, I am informed, are still to be seen in 
the British Museum. The English, acting on the in- 
formation which they received from the Tartars, and 
desirous of investigating the subject of the lost tribes, 
sent out exploring parties at different times. In the 
year 1880, they sent out a large party, who penetrated 
the country beyond Tartary, and came to an impass- 
able canyon. After spending a long season, they 
failed to find a pass, and returned without adding any- 
thing to our information on this subject. 

The question is, Why did God hide them? He 
must have some special purpose in doing this; and the 
point we have to determine is what that purpose was. 
I believe it vras to prove to all mankind that they can 
receive nothing unless it be given them from Heaven. 

I believe that these tribes were set apart by the 
Almighty for the purpose of proving that He vras the 
giver of all things ; and that there is not a useful in- 
vention known to man which is not also possessed by 
these people. I further believe that this knowledge 
was imparted to them at the same time that it was 
received by the outside world ; and when the time 
comes for them to compare dates, it will be discovered 
to them that God must have been the source from 
wdience they derived all the blessings that they en- 
joyed. From this we are led to the conclusion that 
God did not separate them from the rest of the world 
to punish them, but in order to prove that God is the 
giver of all things; ^^that no man should glory in 
himself," but in all things to remember that man of 



126 A VOICE TROM THE PEW. 

liimself can do nothing ; that he is dependent on his 
Maker, who is the source of all things that pertain to 
this life and that which is to come. 

I believe that I have not yet stated that I hold 
the opinion, which all my study of the Scriptures has 
served only to strengthen, namely^ that the wise men 
who came from the east were of the lost tribes. I am 
confirmed in this view of the case, because they must 
have possessed a knowledge of the Scriptures, in order 
to accept the guidance of the star to conduct them to 
the birth-place of the infant Saviour. The fact that 
they had received warning from God not to return to 
Herod, was a sufficient proof that they were of the 
tribes of Jacob, and had a knowledge of the true God. 

What a consolation it must have been to them to 
have liad their expectations realized, and to have seen 
Him of whom Moses had written. How sweet the 
sound to them that His name was called Jesus, be- 
cause He would save His people from their sins and 
be the joy of the tribes on their return, when they 
received these glad tidings, which gave them the as- 
surance that God would fulfill all His promises. 

I have no doubt that these people enjoyed all the 
benefits of the Scriptures. And why not have the 
Gospel — the good news of salvation — now that Christ 
died for our sins, according to the Scriptures. Do 
not they say, "I will pour out my Spirit upon all 
flesh"? That certainly would include these. And 
having the spirit of truth to lead them into all truth, 
in order that they might understand the fundamental 
principles of the Gospel, inasmuch as all truth that is 



THE RETURN OF THE JEWS. 127 

needed to understand the plan of redemption through 
faith in. Christ Jesus is fully given in the Old Testa- 
ment, and because the called, according to His pur- 
pose, will be of every nation, kindred, tongue, and 
people. Therefore some of these must be numbered 
with them. So that some of these are now passing 
through the tribulation that worketh patience, the 
patience that worketh experience, the experience that 
worketh hope, and the hope that maketh not ashamed. 
Because the love of God is shed abroad in their hearts, 
and they yet will sing unto Him that hath washed us 
from our sins in His own blood and has made us 
unto our God kings and priests; and we shall reign 
on the earth; thus fultilling the promise of God to 
Abraham and his seed. 

The Jews said of Jesus, " Will He go to the dis- 
persed among the Gentiles?^' They belieyed what 
Jacob had said,^*' "I will divide them in Jacob, and 
scatter them in Israel. ^^ They knew the nine and 
two half-tribes had disappeared. They had no objec- 
tion to these being called Israel, and themselves Ja- 
cob, because they thought that it was not they who 
were to be scattered, as they considered themselves a 
holy people, keeping the law with great zeal, as they 
then thought, and regarding themselves as the favored 
people of God, that would not be dispersed. The fact 
that they were scattered at the destruction of Jerusa- 
lem, proves them to have been mistaken ; therefore 
the lost tribes, or the divided, are called Jacob, and 
not Israel. 

* Jacob spake as a prophet. 



128 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Foi% if these people bad come from anywhere west of 
Tartary, the journey could have been accomplished in 
a few weeks^ and not have extended to one year and a 
half. Nothing has been recorded in the Scriptures, 
or in history, in relation to the wise men since their 
return from Bethlehem. The silence of all history on 
a fact so important is a sufficient proof that God had 
hidden them, and completely separated them from all 
other nations and peoples of the earth. 

The Afghanistans claim to be the lost ten tribes of 
Israel. I have no doubt that many of these people 
lagged behind, and did not go with the rest, but re- 
mained in India, while the others continued to their 
destination. 

Abraham's Seed. 

" By the deeds of the law, shall no flesh be justified in His 
I5ight." 

God chose a people for His name, 
That was the seed of Abraham. 
He gave to them the goodly land. 
And led them forth by His right hand. 
He also gave His Holy Law 
That they should love and serve Him more; 
And if they failed His law to keep. 
Then they should cease to be His sheep. 
He sent them prophets, priests, and kings, 
And many great and goodly things; 
Much good, without regard to cost. 
Yet they did sin, and all was lost. 



THE SOXS OF GOD. 129 

Then Jesus (^ame to seek His own, 
And of the people He found none; 
For all of them had gone astray, 
Like a lost sheep, cut of the way. 
Yet this to God w^as known before. 
That none could keep His Holy Law; 
And thus Himself to justify. 
And merit life, and never die. 
The law is holy, just, and good; 
Man cannot keep it, if he would. 
If man could keep the Holy Law, 
And perfect be, without a flaw. 
Then he could stand before his God, 
And never tremble at His Word; 
But by the law from God demand 
Eternally in life to stand. 
For of the people there is none 
That keep the law, no, not one. 

The Sons of God. 

Aisj'D nov/ we are the sons of God, 
As He has taught us in His Word. 
But now it doth not yet appear 
What we shall be till we are there. 
Who are the saints you speak of here ? 
What is their work, and what their sphere ? 
They are the class that God has called, 
From the foundation of the world : 
The promised seed that God has said. 
That they should bruise the serpent^s head. 



130 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

They arc the seed of Abraham, too, 
For they, in Christ, are all made new. 
They are the sons of Abraham ; 
They, by adoption, sonship claim. 
They're sons of God, by spirit born. 
And for Christ's sake, God calls His own. 
Now, sons of God, and hen^s of heaven. 
Joint heirs with Christ to all God's given, 
To Christ, who is His only Son, 
That they, in Christ, may all be one. 
They are the seed of David, too, 
Compared with others, are the few. 
The little flock to Jesns given, 
To rule the earth, as done in heaven. 
They are the ones that God foreknew, 
Or the predestinated few 
That God elected by His grace. 
To bless the sons of every race. 



The Office of the Spirit. 

God sent His Holy Spirit down 
To break the hearts He calls His own^ 
And make them contrite by His grace. 
That they should be His dwelling-place. 

The Spirit came for our relief. 

To banish all our unbelief ; 

And does our doubts and fears remove 

By proving God's eternal love. 



JOEL'S ARMY. 131 

The Spirit does our thoughts inspire;, 
And kindles there a heavenly fire ; 
It makes our hearts to burn witli love — 
A foretaste now of that above. 

The Spirit shows what God has done 
By sending here His only Son ; 
And bids us flee to Him for rest, 
And thus be numbered with the blest. 

God sent His Son to keep the law, 

Which we had never done before ; 

And by His works to justify 

Those who love Him^ though doomed to die. 

Yes, God did send His Son at length, 
To die for us who had no strength 
To keep His law and live thereby, 
For without Him we all must die. 

Joel's Army. 

Our God will arm His saints with power 
To make this earth a threshing-floor, 
And sift the wheat all from the chaff. 
But at the wicked God will laugh. 
This woeful day is near at hand 
When God shall visit every land. 
None can escape His searching eye; 
If not His friends, then they must die. 
But those who do acknowledge Him, 
He will forgive them all their sin. 



132 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

God will a place for them prepare 
To meet His coming in the air. 
Three and one-half years they wait, 
And they enjoy a happy state — 
To learn to love and sing His praise, 
As God will teach them of His ways. 
But woe to them who hate their God, 
And do reject His holy Word; 
For God will judge the nations then. 
And prove to them they are but men. 

Satan's Incarnation. 

" Woe to tbe inhabitants of the earth ! For the devil is 
come down among you, and he knovveth that he hath but a 
short time." 

This being soon, all men may see 

That he will incarnated be, 

To walk as man upon the land, 

And in the holy place will stand. 

Then God will send an angel down 

To hurl this being from his throne, 

And bind Him with a heavy chain, 

That he in dungeon shall remain, 

Shut up from light a thousand years, 

To sorrow, trembling, and to fears, 

Like Tam O^Shanter^'s wdfe forlorn, 

" AVho nursed her wrath to keep it warm/^ 

But when the thousand years are o'er, 

He Avill again with God make war ; 

For he will then again come forth 

To gather all men on the earth — 



SPIRITUALISM. 133 

Both Gog and Magog — to the fray, 
In which this being God shall tlay, 
With every person stained with sin, 
And be as though they had not been. 
And all the blessed then shall find 
The past will never come to mind. 

Spiritualism. 

This modern wonder is a prediction of the Script- 
ures. The Apostle Paul expressly declares, that in 
the latter times men should give heed to seducing 
spirits and doctrines of devils, who coming, after 
the manner of Satan, with all power and lying won- 
ders, deceiving the people and being deceived ; teach- 
ing contrary to the Scriptural teaching, that men 
should not give heed to these things. 

Now, if these things were good, God would not 
have warned us away from them. 

In the book of Isaiah it reads: 'MVhen they shall 
£ay unto you, ' Therefore seek unto the wizards and 
them that peep and mutter/ should not a people seek 
unto their God, the living to the dead?" If they 
speak not according to this Word, the law, and the 
testimony, it is because there is no light in them. 
They put darkness for light. Their paper is called 
the ''Banner of Light,'' yet their works are done in 
the dark. Satan is called the prince of darkness, and 
they follow him. Jesus says : '^If thine eye be single, 
thy whole bcdy shall be full of light. Take heed, 
therefore, that the light in thee be not darkness. If 
so, how great is that darkness !" 



134 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

The Elect. 

There is a class that God foreknew 

Before the world began, 
The predestinated few 

Of every race of man. 

They are the called, to be His sons 
And heirs with Christ the Lord ; 

For He saves them from their sins, 
And frees them from death^'s sword. 

They are the children of the light ; 

In spirit they are j)ure ; 
They will conquer in the fight 

Who to the end endure. 

They wrestle not with flesh and bloody 

Nor trust a fleshly arm, 
But meekly put their trust in God 

To keep them from all harm. 

In vain the sting of death may come 

To take their life away ; 
They now have life, and wall live on 

Though all their frame decay. 

The Fullness of Christ. 

Jesus, in whom all fullness dwells, 

The Father's only Son, 
With love to Thee my bosom swells. 

To let Thy will be done. 



THOUGHTS OX THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 135 

0, let me have no will but Tliiiie, 

Bat seek to do Thine ovv^n, 
And, like the branches of the vino, 

To trust in Thee alone. 

0, make my heart Thy dwelling-pla'je, 

And teach me to endure 
To love Thee more and trust Thy grace, 

Till Thou shalt make me pure. 

0, pour Thy Spirit down on me, 

To keep me in the way, 
Till I Thy face in glory see, 

With all the saints that day. 

Thoughts on the Signs of the Times. 

SOME KEASOI^S WHY I THIXK THAT THE CHRISTIAN- 
ERA IS DRAWING TO A CLOSE. 

" Because tliou hast kept the word of My patience, I also 
will keep thee from the hour of temptation, vvhicli shall come 
upon all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth." — 
Rev. iii. 10. 

This Avas to the church, Philadelphia, which 
means brotherly love, a relation I find to be a rare 
thing at the present day. The words "temptation*' 
and "to try," to which I call your special attention, 
have reference to a certain period of time wiiich I be- 
lieve to be forty days, if personal, or forty years pro- 
phetic time. 

I believe the church, Philadelphia, commenced 
soon after 1812. Shortly after the close of the war, a 



13G A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

great revival of religion took place. The people were 
iieitlier rich nor poor ; vork was plenty and the great 
mass of the people were prosperous; the troubles they 
had passed through created a feeling of mutual sym- 
pathy. The rich and the poor then met together. 
They had prayer-meetings in their houses, and the 
singing of Watts^ and Newton's hymns could be heard 
everywhere^ presenting all the evidences of true Chris- 
tian spirit. 

This state of things continued until about the year 
1848. Then, to my mind, a great change took place, 
which, I think, is described in Revelation, third chap- 
ter, fifteenth to seventeenth verses, inclusive: 

''I know tliy works, tliat thou art neither cold nor hot. I 
would thou wert cold or hot. So, then, because thou art kike- 
^varm, I will spew thee out of my mouth. 

''Becaus-e thou sayest, lam rich and increased wdth goods, 
and liave need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art 
wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked." 

A great many of the members of the churches uf 
the present day are composed of people wdio have 
been brought up in the Sunday Schools, baptized in 
infancy, taught their little prayers at home, receiving 
at the same time the benefits of a free education in 
the public schools. The natural tendency of this 
course of training was to produce a class of Christians 
who thought that regular attendance at church, spas- 
modic exercise of charity, absence from theatres, and 
attention to the ordinary proprieties of life, w^re all 
that were necessary to secure the salvation of their 
souls. They never had the experience of a poor sin- 



THOUGHTS OX THE SIGXS OF THE TIMES. 137 

iier who had found a Saviour. But ihrougli the per- 
suasion of miuistcrs, Sunday School teachers, parents, 
and friends, they have united themselves with the 
church, and about all the joys they have are relief 
from importunity, and the congratulations of their 
friends ; while they are in profound ignorance of the 
one thing needful, repentance towards God, and faith 
in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

I believe that this church will continue in its pres- 
ent condition until 1888, which makes forty years. Be- 
cause, this word ^^try'^ means that the church of the 
present day is on trial; and, as I previously stated, 
the word ^Hry," or ^^ trial," includes forty days, or 
forty years. As it has continued nearly forty years, it 
therefore, in this case, does not mean forty days. 

'The opinions which I here put forth are based upon 
the fact that nearly all the wonders of these latter 
times began about the year 1848. AUow^ing forty 
years for their trial and the temptations of the times, 
it would end in the year 1888. 

The temptations which I think have come upon all 
the world to try them, refer in a great measure to the 
modern inventions, and the changes they have pro- 
duced; and also refer to the uprising of the peoples 
against the established governments of that day ; with 
but two remarkable exceptions — England and the 
United States of North America. The Chartists in 
England, it is true, made many peaceful demonstra- 
tions for the purpose of producing an extension of the 
franchise, which resulted only in the arrest of a few of 
the prominent leaders, and subjecting them to light 



138 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

fines and short imprisonment. Some excitement was 
created in the public mind of the United States grov/- 
ing out of the acquisition of territory acquired as a 
result of the Mexican war. 

The discovery of gold in California Avas also an im- 
portant event, which gave a great impulse to trade 
and commerce, railroad and steamship building. 

In 1848, the repeal agitation in Ireland w^as at its 
height; and these agitations, Avith but short inter- 
vals, have continued to the present time. I see no 
prospect of its ending before 1888. In 1848 that 
country was visited by a severe famine, which caused 
great suffering and starvation ; many ship-loads of 
food were sent from the United States, and were 
gratefully received by the starving people; a fact that 
confirms the promises of God, who says : " In bless- 
ing, I will bless thee.'' The history of the w^orld fur- 
nishes no parallel to the prosperity of this country 
since that time : and if all signs do not fail, this ex- 
traordinary national prosperity will continue until the 
year 1888. 

Kussia, fully alive to the signs of the time in 1848, 
so pregnant with important events, made extensive 
preparations to meet the emergency by preserving an 
armed neutrality; ready at a moment's notice to take 
the side which would best promote her interests. 

The uprising of the people in Hungary assumed 
gigantic proportions at the outset, and it was the 
opinion as well as the hope of the friends of liberty 
that she would succeed in achieving her independence. 
But the military power of the Austrian government 



THOUGHTS ON THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES. 139 

combiDed with the treachery of General Georgey, who 
held an important command in the army of the Hun- 
garian patriots, was a death-blow to their cause, and 
completely destroyed the hopes of a magnanimous 
and brave people. 

The dethronement of Louis Philippe, and the estab- 
lishment of a republican form of government in 
France; v\'as one of the most important events of this 
remarkable year; more lasting, and fraught with 
greater conserjuences to France and the nations, than 
any other event of that year. The election of Louis 
Napoleon to the Presidency ; his solemn oath to ad- 
minister the constitution adopted by the people ; the 
violation of his pledges; the overthrow of the repub- 
lican government ; the seizure of supreme poAver, and 
the establishment of the empire succeeded each other 
with astonishing rapidity. The events of compara- 
tively recent date which resulted in his downfall and 
death, are well known. This year, 1848, was prolific 
in revolutions and political changes all through Eu- 
rope ; and its effects on the governments of the Old 
World were greater than any that preceded it, giving 
the people a larger share of liberty than they ever en- 
joyed before. 

In ancient Greece a commune arose, the exact 
counterpart of that which existed in France, the 
effect of which was, that in just forty years they over- 
threw the Grecian Empire and established that of 
Eome. 

I believe that France, during the reign of Louis 
Philippe, represented the head of the Roman Empire, 



140 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

and that the communists will, in like manner, at the 
expiration of forty years, see the last of tlie present 
government, Avhen the prophecies of Joel and that of 
the Eevelation will be fulfilled. 

I further believe that one of the temptations of the 
present day is the insatiable desire to obtain wealth, 
without the least regard to honor or honesty ; and in 
order to do this, men resort to every species of ras- 
cality. Devoid of conscience and moral principle, they 
plunder the public in various Avays ; such as an over- 
issue of stocks; combining to lower prices, in order to 
cheat honest investors; creating by the same means a 
^^ corner "in the necessaries of life. Trusted bank 
presidents, cashiers, heads of wealthy corporations, 
and trustees for widows, and orphans, betraying their 
trusts and becoming defaulters for large amounts. 
Public officers all over the country stealing the people's 
money, and accepting bribes for their influence, and 
votes in legislative bodies; flaunting before the public 
vv^ith vulgar ostentation their ill-gotten gains. These 
things go to show that these are the latter times, as 
described by the Apostle Paul, wherein he predicts in- 
iquity in high places. Also Timothy, second chapter, 
first to fifth verses inclusive: ^^Know this also : That 
in the last days perilous times shall come, for men 
shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, 
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthank- 
ful, unholy, without natural afF^Lction, truce-breakers, 
false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those 
that are good, traitors, heady, high-rninded, lovers of 
pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of 



THOUGHTS ON THE SIGXS OF THE TIMES. 141 

Godliness, but denying the power thereof. From such 
turn away." 

In what follows I propose to treat of other impor- 
tant events that began about the year 1848. Modern 
SpirituaHsm, w^hich I regard as one of the strong de- 
lusions spoken of by the Apostle Paul, was introduced 
by the Fox girls in the city of Eochester, JSi. Y. 

In 1848 Brigham Young settled in Utah. Modern 
Unitarianism, as taught by Theodore Parker, com- 
menced in 1848. 

Most of the modern sects who differ from the 
orthodox churches appeared about the same time. 

Adventism, w^hich commenced in 1842, teaching the 
coming of Christ in 1843, and many others formu- 
lated tlieir peculiar teachings about the same time. 

The year 1848 was prolific in remarkable inyen- 
tions, which produced a vast influence upon manu- 
tures and manual labor. First in importance is the 
sewing-machine. The knitting-machine was invented 
about this time ; also the planing-machine, and the 
McCormick reaper; the grain elevator, the gimlet- 
screw, the screw-propellor, Colt's revolver, and the 
Goodyear patent for the manufacture of India-rubber 
goods. 

By a treaty of peace made in 1848 the Americans 
obtained the territories of New Mexico, Utah, and 
California. Wisconsin was admitted into the Union 
in 1848. California was admitted into the Union in 
1850. In fact, a series of important events took place 
in that memorable year wiiich produced a marked 
effect, b'Oth in our foreign and domestic affairs; and 



142 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

these things occuiTing so nearly at the same time is, 
to my mind, an evidence that they will have a corre- 
sponding termination. God, in His wisdom, has not 
revealed to us when that day will come ; nor did He 
make it known to the Son. ''That day and hour 
knowelh no man ; no, not the angels of Heaven ; 
but My Father only.'^ 

And yet, continuing in the spirit of the teachings of 
the Apostle Paul, I am convinced that '' that day need 
not overtake us unawares.*' 

I do not profess to know that these are the latter 
times; but what is transpiring in the present age 
leaves scarcely a doubt in my mind that " the day of 
the Lord is at hand."' 

If my thoughts on the times interfered in any way 
w^ith my labors and duties, it would be a strong evi- 
dence that I am wrong in my conclusions. But, in 
regard to what I believe to be my position in this 
matter, I appreciate the feeling of a member of the 
Connecticut Legislature on the dark day, Avho, when 
a member arose, and mode a motion to adjourn be- 
cause the world v/as coming to an end, said : ^' If that 
is so, let us call for candles, and be found doing our 
dutv." 



The Dark Day. 

AVhen darkness comes upon the land. 
Then every tribe shall mourn. 

For God will gather by His hand. 
All tho;:e He calls His ov;n. 



THE HIDDEN PEOPLE. 143 

His saints will go to heaven above, 

To join those gone before ; 
And see the face of Him they love, 

Who all their sorrows bore. 

Then God will send His angels forth, 

To take from each abode, 
From east, and west, and south, and north, 

Those who to Him seem good. 

And hide them in a goodly place. 

That He will then prepare, 
Where they will wait to see His face, 

When coming in the air. 

And then the saints shall all return, 
To preach the truth with power ; 

And comfort all the tribes that mourn, 
With blessings they shall shower. 

Then God the people shall divide, 

As shepherds do their sheep ; 
Those that fear Him, He then will hide, 

And in Pavilion keep. 

The Hidden People. 

Thek they will know the end is nigh. 

When troubles will be o'er ; 
And they shall sing "sweet by-and-by,^^ 

As never sung before. 



144 A VOICE^ FROM THE PEW. 

They wait His coming in the sky. 
And all His saints with Him ; 

No more to sing sweet by-and-by3 
For God will be with them. 

For God will soon old Satan bind. 

And cast him in the pit. 
That he no more the people blind. 

Or in their councils sit- 
But woe to those who hate their God, 

And do His love refuse^ 
He will no good to them afford, 

As then His word will prove. 

For they must sleep a thousand years. 

And then will rise again. 
To have their share of pain and tears. 

And then again be slain. 

But not until they worship Him 
AVho sits upon the throne ; 

Ascribing honors to the Lamb, 
Who all the work has done. 

Behold, He Cometh! 

Behold, He comes, in clouds again. 
With saints who Him adore, 

That He, on David's throne may reign. 
And all the earth restore. 



THE DAY OF DARKNESS. 145 

The buried dead shall hear Him call, 

And come forth from the grave ; 
And then grow up, like calves at stall, 

And every good shall have. 

Sin shall be banished from the earth. 

And Satan will be bound; 
The world will have its second birth, 

And be as holy ground. 

The children in the streets shall play. 

And have their fill of joys; 
None will disturb their happy days. 

But love these girls and boys. 

And old men on their staff will lean, 

Because of very age ; 
And, like a tree when old is green, 

His work will them engage. 

For sickness then shall be no more, 

And none will then complain ; 
Then all will love God's Holy Law, 

While Christ on earth shall reign. 

The Day of Darkness. 

Akd when that day of darkness comes. 
Then God will take His little ones, 
And hide them on the earth somewhere, 
To feed them with a shepherd's care. 



146 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

The saints will go to Heaven above, 

That they may see the one they love ; 

And in His likeness will appear, 

For in His righteonsness they share. 

And then the marriage of the Lamb 

Shall come to them for whom He came. 

Then soon they will return again, 

To preach the truth and make it plain, 

That every one may understand 

What God will bring upon the land. 

A great revival then will come, 

For God will visit every one, 

And make them know their need of Him, 

To save them from the fruit of sin. 

For this is what the Scriptures say : 

" Shall nation be born in a day ? " * 

A people that our God will hide. 

And care for them while they abide 

In His pavilion, to remain 

Till Christ shall come in clouds again. 

This Being then they^ll all adore ; 

Who is the God they waited for. 

God does not give Knowledge without Re- 
sponsibility. 

God planted in Eden the tree of the knowledge of 
good and evil, and expressly forbade Adam to eat of 
the fruit of it, saying, '^'For in the day that thou 
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.^^ But man's curi- 
osity being greater than his judgment, he was tempted 
* Isaiah Ixvi. 8. 



KO KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT RESPONSIBILITY. 147 

to eat by the tempter that God permitted to be in the 
garden. Now, God had warned Adam, that in the 
day he ate thereof he would surely die; yet he did 
not die on that day^ because God was merciful, and 
He could not have shown His mercy had He not made 
a law. When Adam had eaten of the fruit of the 
tree, he then acquired the knowledge of good and evil ; 
and being conscious of having done wrong, and over- 
come with shame, he hid himself. A thief feels like 
a thief, and acts accordingly. 

I think that the following illustration will throw 
some light on this subject. 

Without referring here to the sacrifice w^hich God 
had made for the sins of many, I propose to show 
how God holds man responsible for the knowledge 
Avhich he receives. 

God may be likened to a man wiio has a large sugar 
refinery, and possesses exclusive knowledge of all that 
pertains to the business. He owns all the buildings 
and all the machinery contained therein. Every per- 
son except himself is employed for pay. The houses 
that the w^orkmen live in and the banks that they put 
their money in are all his. They know nothing of 
the process of making sugar, and are given to under- 
stand that they must do his bidding without question. 
The business is getting so vast and the care of the 
help so great that it is becoming a burden to himself, 
or would be so in time. He does not want to sell out, 
because it is his pleasure to make sugar ; neither does 
he want to let another man have the mastery over 
these people whom he loves, because he has promised 



148 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

them that he will remain with them always, and will 
not suffer any one to interfere witli or destroy the 
interest which he takes in them. He cannot take a 
partner, for there is none that can command the capi- 
tal required. And if he did take a partner with suf- 
ficient capital, that would increase the business, which 
is already large enough for the present. So he deter- 
mines to make some of his helpers partners in the 
business, and bring them in such relations to himself 
that there will be no danger of a rupture. 

He knows their weakness and he knows their habits 
— in fact, he knows them altogether — and says, '' This 
Avill I do : I will let them be tempted to disobey me.^"* 
So he places a sign over his laboratory door, with 
these words: " JVo Admittance, under Penalty of the 
LaivT then calling his people's attention to it, warns 
them of the consequences of opening that door or 
entering the place. He then gives them the usual 
orders, and leaves them to themselves for a time. 

One of the weaker ones, seeing the sign, looks down 
and sees the key in the door. His curiosity being 
greater than his judgment, he turns the key and 
enters the room. There he sees his master's books; 
opens them and acquaints himself with the contents ; 
learns all about the business, and what his intentions 
are with reference to others and to himself. Dis- 
appointed in his own expectations, and envious at the 
prospects of others, he is puffed up with pride at the 
knowledge he has obtained of sugar-making. He 
thereupon commences to create a spirit of insubor- 
dination among his fellows. 



NO KNOWLEDGE WITHOUT KESPONSIBILITY. 149 

When his master returns, instead of meeting him 
as before, he runs away and hides himself. He is 
soon found, and is asked, '* Why did you run away?'*' 
He says, " Because I was afraid."' His master asked, 
^'Afraid of what ? " He replies, ^^xifraid of you." ^^Oh, 
then you have been in my laboratory!" *^Yes," 
rephes the man. '^ You left the key in the door; I 
turned it and went m, and I find that you are a hard 
master, doing all things for your own pleasure." 
^•'Now," says the master, ^' what do you intend to 
do?" '^To make sugar on my own account. I have 
the knowledge and the means, and inteud to use 
them." Then the master calls to others to seize the 
man and bind him hand and foot, and place him in 
darkness ; that he be starved to death. 

The man begins to tremble, and from trembling to 
weeping, and from weeping to begging for mercy. 
Then the master, seeing that his tears are genuine, 
gives orders to unbind the man, and tells him to 
stand on his feet, saying to him : " You are for- 
given." With that, the man throvfs his arms around 
his m.aster's neck, and t\ eeps for joy. His master in- 
quires, ^"Why do you do this ?" .^"-'Because I love 
you." " And why do you love me ?" "Because you 
are so good." ^' Did you not love me before ? " " 1 
thought I did, but I know I do now." Xow the. 
master wants to know w^hat he wishes to do, and the. 
reply is, "I want to make sugar." ^vFor whom?" 
"For you," is the answer. 

The master shows him a parchment bond, or cove- 
nant, between himself and the man. After the man 



150 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

has read it, he is asked if he is willing to sign it ; 
which he does most gladly. Then the master takes 
him by the hand, and says, '- So long as you are true 
to this covenant, between you and me, all mine is 
thine, and thou art mine. But, if you should violate 
this covenant, I will leave you to the law, of which 
now there is no possible danger, because love is the 
bond/^ 



No Man Lives to Himself. 

"0 Lord, I know that the way of man is not in 
himself. It is not in man that walketh to direct his 
steps!'' Jesus says, '' Whomsoever ye serve, his serv- 
ants ye are: of yourselves ye can do nothing.'' 

Man is influenced by outside powers, either for 
good or evil; God on one side, and the devil on the 
other. Of himself he can do nothing, as Jesus said 
to Pilate, "You can do nothing unless power is given 
you." " The devil is a liar from the beginning. When 
he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own ;" he is the 
spring of all evils, although God is the source of all 
power, both of good and evil. So the devil can do 
nothing, unless God supplies the source. Isaiah xlv. 7 : 
"I form the light, and create darkness ; I make peace, 
and create evil; I, the Lord, do all these things." 
Evil is a fact, as much as good; and to know both 
good and evil, is to be as God ; but to love the good 
and hate the evil, is to be like God. When Adam 
disobeyed God, by eating of the tree of the knowl- 
edge of good and evil, he became as God ; but when 



NO MAN LIVES TO HIMSELF. 151 

we dcliglit to do God's will and bidding, we become 
like God. 

If a man is altogether bad, he is like the devil ; 
when he is altogether good, he is like God. 

If God should withdraw His Spirit from us, we would 
then be in despair, because the Spirit of God includes 
hope ; and we would be completely in the power of 
tiie evil one. When the devil leaves us, even for a 
season, we are at ease; and then, if God is with us, 
our joy is great ; but if both leave us, we sink. 

A man, some years ago, killed all hands on board 
of a vessel in the bay, and then went to the shore, and 
waited to be arrested. When asked how he could 
commit such a crime, he said, '^ While I was doing it, 
I had plenty of company ; but when it was done, I 
was all alone." Poor soul ! without God, and no 
devil. 

The prophet says, Lord, I know 

Man's way is not in him — 
He hath no power here below, 

To keep himself from sin. 

If man would do the will of God, 

And keep himself from sin. 
He must believe God's Holy Word, 

And must be born again. 

For he that is of spirit born 

Is free from law ai}d sin; 
The grace of God does him adorn, 

And keeps him ])ure within. 



153 * A VOICE FKOM THE PEW. 

God's Ways are Equal. 

Suppose a man is arrested, tried and convicted, 
and that his crime is of such enormity that the law 
demands that he be incarcerated in the State prison 
for a certain length of time. The man is brought 
before the judge to hear his sentence, and to give 
his reasons why his sentence is not just. 

The question is asked him as to his guilt, and the 
man confesses his crime. Then the judge asks him 
why sentence should not be pronounced upon him; 
to which the prisoner replies: " I am to suppose that 
you will give a just sentence; and as you have no 
special law for my peculiar case — as all cases are differ- 
ent in their circumstances — -I don't see hov/ you can 
sentence me for any particular length of time, or 
what kind of labor would be exact justice in my case. 

" One day in the State prison might be a worse pun- 
ishment to me, and be productive of worse conse- 
quences than all the crimes I have committed. Or it 
might be such a very suitable place for me that it would 
not be any punishment at all. Now, as I am supposed 
to be a man of sound mind, and capable of judging 
right from wrong — if I were not, you would not punish 
me at all — I propose, as I am to have justice done me, 
and to acknowledge my punishment to be just, and as 
you have but one w^ay of dealing out justice, let me 
put a case : Suppose you send me to the State prison, 
without stating how long I am to remain there, or 
what I am to do when I get there. Let me be the 
judge of the matter, as I have a conscience, and am 



GOD'S WAYS ARE EQUAL. 153 

supposed to have a knowledge of justice; and, as I 
said before, if I had not, you would not punish me 
at all. 

^*I will go to prison^ and accept w^hatever I may get 
there ; and as soon as my conscience is cleared by 
being punished sufficiently, I will let you know\ For, 
if I get more punishment than my crime demands^ 
then others would be doing me a wrong, and would 
have to be punished for that wrong/' 

Man judges man and then punishes him; but God 
punishes a man and then judges him. If a man must 
acknow^ledge the justice of God, how^ is he to know 
that unless he has experienced it ? Experience is the 
foundation of knowledge. 

The thief on the cross acknowledged the justice of 
his punishment, and so will every man that is visited 
by the justice of God. 

When a man knows what his punishment is by hav- 
ing experienced it, he knows that it must have come to 
an end. The torments of the blasphemers will con- 
tinue for five months. K'ot that all wall be punished 
alike, but that their punishment will be in accordance 
with the deeds done in the body. When every one will 
acknowledge his punishment to be just, and worship 
God for His justice and power, and accept what God, 
in His wisdom, may deem best, then will they be able 
to join with the angels, saints, and people in singing 
praises to God, saying, " Honor and glory, and power 
and dominion be unto Him that sitteth on the throne, 
and to the Lamb.'' They worship the Lamb through 
justice ; others worship the Lamb through love. I 



154 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

have treated of this subject in other parts of this book, 
yet I will add this quotation : " All Thy works shall 
praise Thee." 

Christian Humility. 

How humble Christians should be here, 

While we our Saviour's yoke do bear. 

And meekly walk along the road, 

Through tribulations, up to God. 

Oh, take a low position here^ 

That you may be exalted there; 

For there's no place in God's dominions 

For falsehoods or for wrong opinions. 

How strange it is that men should hold 

That to be true by others told. 

When by a fair investigation 

Can prove it not of truth's relation. 

And strange, yet true, there's few who can 

Think for themselves, and, like a man, 

Hold to a logical deduction 

Of their own reason or reflection. 

And before they will accept — require 

That others will their thoughts admire. 

And yet there^'s some that do not dare 

To trust their thoughts; and that for fear 

Of being wrong, and so come short 

Of the great truths that God has taught. 

To read God's Word they find no time, 

Nor do they to His Word incline, 

But shun the light, for fear they may 

Be forced to know what God does suy. 



CHRISTIAN HUMILITY. 155 

So they live on their few shorfc years, 
And htive then* share of pains and fears: 
Then come to life's most certain end^ 
And fail to know of God, their friend. 
The way men do with this world's store, 
Get all they can^ and work for more ; 
No task so hard, or toil too great, 
But men will do to get estate. 
Down in deep mines, or in ship's hold, 
Is what men do to get their gold : 
On sea or land, in cold or heat. 
In house or barn, or in the street, 
Men struggle on for this world^s good, 
And have no taste for heavenly food. 
"'TIS heavenly things their souls require, 
But in their hearts they've no desire ; 
And to God say, "Depart from me, 
Fve no desire to hnoro of Thee.""* 
The wonder is, that in this life, 
Men do not give up the strife 
To get the things that fade away, 
When here on earth they cannot stay. 
If men on earth lay up their treasure. 
And iu this life have a full measure 
Of all the good that this w^orld gives. 
He only has it while he lives ; 
And fears it will, some future day. 
Take itself wings and fly away. 
God pity those that put their trust 
In riches, be they as the dust ; 



150 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

And arc not rich in heavenly things, 
For while one weeps, another sings. 
For this is what the Scriptures teach, 
That he that savetli to be rich, 
And is not rich toward his God, 
Or washed his garments in His blood, 
Shall then be poor in that great day, 
When God shall corae to take away 
The little ones, that he will hide 
In wilderness w^here they abide ; 
For those who do not love His law 
Will then be slain, and be no more. 
Until the thousand years shall end. 
When God on them His wrath shall send. 



All Live to God. 

The child that died w^hen time was young. 

And rested in his grave so long, 

Has shared the same as those just gone, 

Who waited ages to be born. 

All live to God, of every age. 

The past and future Him engage ; 

All those that sleep, and those that wake, 

Do of His power and love partake. 

What matters it to any one. 

If he but have his work well done; 

Had it been done long in the past, 

Or worked with those that did the last. 



WHOM NOT HAVIXG SEEN, WE LOVE. 15? 

God's Foreknowledge. 

God's works to Him are all foreknown, 
Things past and present, and to come ; 
And those to come all live in Him ; 
Those living now, or in the tomb 
Are ever present to His mind ; 
There is nothing hid, but all defined. 
I waited ages to be born. 
Yet to my God was always known ; 
He saw me long before the world 
Was made, or even man was called. 
But yet I waited in the dust, 
And in His power He did trust, 
Because He is Almighty God, 
And everything obeys His word. 
So, in due time, I did come forth. 
To stay some years upon the earth, 
And do the work that He ordained. 
And thus eternal life obtained. 

Whom Not Having Seen, We Love. 

Jesus we love, though now unseen, 

Who all our sins did bear, 
For now there is a vail between, 

AVhile we His sufferings share. 

But soon we will, with open face. 

See Him whom now we love; 
When we with Him will take the place 

He has prepared above. 



158 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Then will the saints be manifest, 

And all the world shall see 
That glorious time of perfect rest, 

When they from sin are free. 

The saints that from the earth have gcnc; 

To be with Christ above^ 
Their cry is still, ^' Lord, how long 

Wait we Thy power to prove ? " 

And saints, who on the earth remain. 
Cry, " Come, Lord Jesus, come. 

And on the throne of David reign, 
Where Thou hast made us room.^"* 

For noAv the Avhole creation groans 

In travail and in pain ; 
And Jesus pleads for all God's sons, 

Till He shall come again. 

How to Test Character. 

If you want to know what the character of u man 
is, do him a disinterested or unsolicited kindnes:;. If 
he is a good man, he will be thankful and delighted 
to see you, and will do all he can to please you; his 
constant aim will be to show a proper appreciation for 
favors received, and he will so conduct himself gen- 
erally, as to retain your friendship without sacrificing 
his self-respect. 

If he is a bad man, his character will soon manifest 
itself. You may have done him ninety and nine 



HOW TO TEST CHARACTER. 159 

favors, but if you are not prepared to do the hun- 
dredth, he ^\\\\ consider all the rest canceled, and do 
you a damage if the opportunity occur. Man being 
an active creature, must do something, and all his acts 
will correspond with his character. Now, God, in His 
dealings with men, wishes to prove them, and submit 
them to a test of character. By raining upon the 
just and the unjust, the good man, in the gratitude of 
his heart, returns thanks to his ]\[aker with songs of 
praise; the bad man, on the contrary, will find cause 
for complaint. The rain came at the wrong time ; 
there was too much, or too little ; in fact, anything, 
but to give thanks for benefits conferred. Now, God 
says, "If the Lord be God, follow Him. If Baal, then 
follow him.^^ Again, God says, "Do good, or do 
evil.''^ Man, being an active principle, must do some- 
thing. 

The following story will illustrate this position. 
During the war with the South, a colored farmer, in- 
stead of taking his produce to town, took it to a camp 
of colored soldiei*s. One day, seeing a soldier who was 
apparently very sick, he asked him if he would like 
to go with him to his farm and spend a week or 
two, in order to recruit his health. The soldier siiid 
he w^ould like it very much. After consulting with 
the officers, they gave him leave of absence for one 
week. At the end of the w^eek, having much im- 
proved in health, the farmer informed him that he 
was about to visit the camp with another load of 
produce, and his leave of absence having expired, he 
must return with him. The soldier received the an- 



160 A YOICE FROM THE PEW. 

nouncement without betraying any emotion what- 
ever — an indifference the farmer could not under- 
stand. 

A week later, the farmer again visited the camp 
with another load, and saw the same man looking 
much worse ; and again asked him if he would hke to 
revisit the farm, and stay for a month. He said he 
would like it very much ; and leave of absence being 
obtained, he accompanied the farmer back to his 
home. During the month that he remained there, 
he gave the farmer no reason to believe that he Avas 
anything but a man of good character. At the ex- 
piration of the month, the farmer being ready to pro- 
ceed to the camp with another load, told the man the 
time was up, and that he must return with him to 
camp. He refused, saying, ^'I guess I won't go." 
The farmer said, " How is that ? '^ He answered, "I 
have consulted a lawyer.^'' "Well,"' said the farmer, 
^*what did the lawyer say?'' "He asked me if I 
had been sent for, and I said no; then he told me to 
wait until I had been sent for." It appears from this 
statement that the man must luive paid the lawyer a 
sum of money, who, no doubt, felt it to be necessary 
to give him pleasing advice in return. So, acting on 
the lawyer's suggestion, he did not then go back to 
camp. The farmer, just before starting, instructed 
his workman to gather up the pea-brush and burn it, 
and to give the place a general cleaning up (the 
colored soldier standing by at the time the man 
received this order). The farmer then departed with 
his load. 



TUE CROSS WE BEAR. NO. 1. IGl 

While at the camp, a messenger came and told him 
that his house was burning down. "Ah," said the 
farmer, *'that comes fi'om doing a disinterested act of 
kindness unsolicited I The man would not thank me, 
nor could he pay me ; so, obliged to do something, he 
burned my house." 

The farmer w\as right ; his little daughter told him 
how the man gathered up a lot of rubbish and placed 
it near the house, then set it on fire. 

The officers, acting on the farmer's statements, im- 
mediately sent for and arrested the man, and, liaving 
had orders to break camp that day, simply placed him 
back in his company. A few days after he was killc d 
in battle. 

How to Live. 

'' If man would live, and see good days, let him keep Lis 
heart from evil, and his lips from speaking guile." 

If man would live, and see good days. 
Let him take heed to all his ^vays ; 
For if he is by Satan led, 
He's worse than numbered with the dead. 
Break off thy sins, by righteousness. 
And be assured that God will bless 
Each effort made to keep His law, 
And fill your basket and your store. 

The Cross We Bear. No. 1. 
They whom God calls to second birth 
Must be as strangers on the earth ; 
For if they search the Scriptures through 
To learn of things that God will do. 



162 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

They soon will find themselves alone, 
For others think their reason gone. 
Yet we do know the truth in parfc, 
And hide it deep within our heart. 

The Cross We Bear. No. 2. 

Christ calls us here to bear His Cross, 
And to confess His name; 

Though in this life we suffer loss, 
Should count it all our gain. 

If for the truth we suffer here, 

Then blessed is our case. 
For this does prove our love sincere 

When we proclaim His grace. 

Oh, sinners, do be wise to-day. 
And learn a Saviour's love; 

For here on earth you cannot stay, 
As it will soon remove. 

For God will soon the heavens shake 
And make the earth to reel, 

That all the men on earth shall quake ; 
In darkness they can feel. 

I Am Not Alone. 

I AM not alone, for God is here 
To guide me with His eye. 

Why should I fear when God is near, 
To hear me when I cry ? 



THE COMFORTS OF HOPE. 163 

His ear is open to my call, 

To notice my complaints, 
And keep me, though I stand or fall, 

And when my spirit faints. 

The day will come when I alone 

Must pass through death^'s dark hour, 

When He will come and take me home. 
And give new life with power. 

This hope it cheers my saddest hours ; 

How can I fearful be. 
When He has offered all His powers. 

That I His face should see ? 

The Comforts of Hope. 

Whex my hearths with anguish riven, 

Then unto the rock I hide. 
With the hope that Fm forgiven, 

By what flowed from Jesus' side. 

When I think of mercies past. 

Then my heart with rapture sings ; 

For His blessings all surpass 

The good of all terrestrial things. 

When I think of joys to come. 
That are promised us in Heaven — 

Those enjoyed by Christ, the Son, 
Are the joys of the forgiven. 



1G4 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

When I think of death's dark hour, 
When I from here must pass away. 

This flesh may wither like a flower, 
Yet I live on in endless day. 

In That Night. 

Lord, when the sun shall cease to shine. 
And darkness o^er the earth shall come, 

Still give me grace to call Thee mine, 
And hear Thee say to me. Well done. 

Or when the moon shall turn to blood. 
And all the tribes of earth shall mourn. 

Let me not fail to trust my God, 
To keep me safe from every harm. 

When Thou shall send down from above 
Thy power to take me up to Thee, 

Let me be dwelling in Thy love. 

And pass from earth Thy face to see. 

A Lesson from the Wild Allspice. 

Whej^ w^alking through the woods one day, 
I saw the bushes by the w^ay, 
I scarcely could discern each kind, 
They looked in common, to my mind. 

And at another time I went. 
And found some bushes overbent; 
The leaves w^ere blackened by the frost, 
And all their summer beauty lost. 



THE HOUR OF PRAYER. 1C5 

These blackened leaves were limp and stale ; 
Like death, thSy showed a ghastly pale, 
And seemed to say, as I passed by, 
As you see me, you, too, must die. 

Another time I passed that way, 

And saw this bush, all bright, and gay ; 

And wondered why I had not seen 

Its fruit, when all the leaves were green. 

The bush was filled with berries red, 
And seen because the leaves were dead ; 
It seemed to say to me again. 
Wait till your flesh aside is lain. 

Then, if your works will stand the test. 
When everything is manifest, 
Then in God's presence you will shine 
More grand than I now do with mine. 

The Hour of Prayer. 

Hovr sweet to go aside to pray. 

And shut my closet door, 
And there, alone with God, to stay, 

His blessings to implore. 

For they who here on God do wait. 

Will always find Him near. 
To give them strength for every strait, 

And banish all their fear. 



166 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Here we can taste the love of God, 
While we on Hioi do call; 

Though we should fail to speak a word, 
Yet God well knows them all. 



A Letter to a Friend. No. 1. 

How sweet, when summer days have come, 
Among the hills and woods to roam. 
And rest beside a cooling spring, 
Where none but God can hear us sing. 

Your offer was so very kind, 
I was for going more inclined ; 
And, consequently, we did go 
More than we were accustomed to. 



And, as we walked the mountains through, 
It seemed that I could talk with you ; 
Because I know you thought of me, 
And helped to pay for what I see. 

The benefits that we have had 
At your expense have made us glad ; 
And may you always have supply 
To help a better man than I. 



REFLECTIONS ON REMARKS MADE TO ME. lO? 

Reflections on Remarks Made to Me at the Door 
of a Church. 

You don't come here to worship, 

But come to hear a sermon ; 
Nor come to hear the music, 

But to get a good oration. 

You want something for your money, 

But here's no place for you ; 
We don't give milk and honey ; 

We have something else to do. 

For now we use the Psalter, 

As that's the fashion now. 
To make the sermons, shorter. 

And give us less to do. 

We gave up preaching doctrines. 

For that's behind the age ; 
But preach of human notions. 

As they are all the rage. 

They must have something pleasing, 

That smoothly runs along; 
So our numbers are increasing, 

And to our church they throng. 

Now every seat is taken. 

And our coffers they are fall ; 

Now we cannot be mistaken. 
Though our sermons are so dull. 

^ Prophesy unto iia smootli tbings." 



lt)8 A VOICE FROM THE PEW. 

Ye are the Salt of the Earth. 
There is a class Christ calls His own, 

Who to the church belong, 
And every Christian church has some, 

Or, perhaps, one forlorn. 

They are the salt that savors those 
Who v/alk in light of truth, 

As their example clearly shows, 
Because they give the proof, 

By humbly walking with their God, 

And meekly do His will ; 
They love to search His holy Word, 

Which God will all fulfill. 

They are the light that guides the youth 

In paths of righteousness, 
And by the Spirit teach the truth, 

That they mankind may bless. 

Letter to a Friend. No. 2. 

A HAPPy thought came o'er my mind 
When you to me did prove so kind. 
How good it is that some are poor, 
That they appreciate the more 
The kindness of a brother man 
Who of his goods does what he can. 
How good it is that some can spare. 
That needy ones might have a share. 
It blesses those who do receive. 
And blessings more on those who give. 



MY LAST REQUEST. 169 

My Last Request. 

Let him that reads this little book, 

And doth the same commend, 
Encourage what I undertook, 

And hand it to a friend. 

There are many works of worthy men 

That fail when first put forth, 
But time does prove w^hat they have done 

To be of greatest worth. 



'Thou hast Lighted rny Candle!" 



NOV 16 1900 





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